Star Wars Apparitions (version 3)
by TheLoneRebels 2.0
Summary: In a desperate attempt to fix the current timeline, Kanan, Ahsoka, and Anakin embark on a crazy journey in the World Between Worlds to try and change history and the future. They end up changing way more than they ever thought. Sometimes for the better and sometimes not. Eventual lemons. Kanera, Ezrabine, Obi-Tine, Anidala, Rexsoka. *This story floats between SW pages.*
1. Transported

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**There is an explanation of how my calendar works and a list of helpful translations for my commonly used Star Wars words in 'Flame of Hope - Everyone' if you're curious.**

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**This story will float between the Rebels, Clone Wars, and Star Wars pages, depending on which is most applicable to the latest chapter updated. **

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**Star Wars Apparitions**

**Transported:**

_D15/1 BBY, Lothal_

The mountain above them shook, sending small rocks raining over them. The hard floor of the cave beneath their feet trembled. The lothwolves growled, radiating displeasure. The Force around Kanan rippled with the echoes of the bombs exploding above ground.

_I guess Pryce isn't playing nice anymore. _

Kanan's sarcastic side snorted. _When has that bitch ever played nice?_

_True._

Ignoring the fact that he was talking to himself, Kanan let the Force guide his balance as he flowed with the movements of the ground. He frowned as most of his companions were jostled, their signatures turning murky from fear.

"The Empire's bombing the mountains!" Ryder cried out, his human shaped Force signature falling against a wall for support as the floor shook harder than before.

_I think we already figured that out, Ryder. _The somewhat jaded Jedi politely refrained from saying that out loud, however.

The only other person down in the cave with Kanan who wasn't near to panicking was his Padawan. Ezra was concentrating on the lothwolf with the brightest signature. He could feel the strength of the connection Ezra had with the wolf and was once again impressed by how far the boy had progressed in his level of maturity in the Force. The angsty teen who couldn't even settle down enough to connect to a simple lothcat was long gone. Now Ezra was essentially at the level of a Master when it came to Animal Bonding and it was easily his strongest Force ability. Kanan was no slouch when it came to bonding with animals, but it wasn't his main gift.

Before he'd been blinded by Maul, Kanan had believed his strongest ability was his Force Jump, but now... Now he knew better. He'd needed to lose his sight to discover that his real gift was his ability to use Force Sight. He'd learned a lot more about himself, his family, and those around him than he'd ever thought to know once he opened himself up to the Force and actually paid attention to what was going on around him. But even though he was grateful to the Force for blessing him as it had, there would always be a part of him that wanted to see again for real.

That was the part of him that whimpered at the loss of seeing his precious Hera. The part that knew it was missing seeing the kids grow up into adults. The part that cringed every time Sabine made a new painting and everyone else showered her with praise and he had to stand back and stay silent because even the strongest Force Sight wasn't intricate enough to convey the colour and depth she put into her paintings. He could generally get a sense of the image in her paintings if it was of an actual object like the Ghost, the same way he could pick up Aurebesh markings, but if it was an abstract, he got nothing and it had been painful to admit.

Now, he watched as Sabine hovered behind Ezra as close as she dared get to the lothwolf that towered over them. Her emotions were reaching for Ezra in search of comfort even if her body wasn't quite willing to go that far. In the underground cave that Kanan assumed was dark, he doubted that anyone else saw Ezra reach back and brush a hand over her forearm for a second, but Kanan most certainly caught the movement. He also noticed how her signature instantly calmed with his reassurance. Those two were about as bonded as they could get without actually merging their signatures in the most intimate way possible. (And Kanan had a feeling that wasn't too far off now that someone had finally admitted they had feelings for the other and got the ball rolling.) He and Hera had a bet going to see how long it would take for the kids to admit to the rest of them that they weren't just best friends anymore.

Even as Ezra was soothing his not so secret girlfriend, he was also having a conversation with the lead wolf. "We've got to get out of here," he told it out loud, probably for the benefit of the others, since Kanan could sense that Ezra and the wolf were now having a much more elaborate and silent conversation.

As the mountain above them growled like deadly thunder once again, the wolf turned and held its tail up for Ezra to grab. Ezra did, after a moment's hesitation. "Everyone join hands," he called.

Sabine's hand practically flew into Ezra's, undoubtedly with a bone crunching grip. "Ezra!" she called on a rising note as the cave rumbled and then cracked loudly as fractures shot along the rock walls.

"The cave is going to collapse!" Zeb all but yelled as he lunged forward and grabbed onto Sabine's free hand.

Kanan pulled Ryder away from a wall just as a large section of the ceiling of the cave above him collapsed right he'd been standing. The man was in such shock that he barely noticed as Kanan pushed him towards Zeb and the lasat grabbed Ryder's hand. "There's no way out of here," Ryder mumbled despairingly even as the little train of trapped Rebels started moving as the lothwolf pulled them along.

Kanan quickly grabbed Ryder's free hand and immediately got his fingers squashed. He did his best to send Ryder a wave of calm even as he said, "That we know of. Have faith in Ezra and the wolves."

Ryder snorted under his breath, but his signature calmed a little and the grip on Kanan's hand eased to bearable.

After a few hesitantly placed steps from those in front of him, Kanan sucked in a breath as a small glint of brilliant light appeared in the Force. That glint swiftly grew to the point that he had to focus elsewhere or be in danger of ending up mentally blind from the swirling maelstrom of light. He thought he saw one of the two darker wolves disappear within it and Kanan realized it must be a portal of some kind. _Whoa._

A Force portal.

He'd never heard of such a thing, but somehow, he wasn't surprised; amazed, but not surprised. Ezra's lothwolves were more than a little too strong in the Force to be normal beasts and their convenient timing for showing up on a planet that Kanan had been wandering around on for years without a hint of their presence could not be a coincidence.

Within moments of the portal opening, Kanan felt a wave of SOMETHING sweep over the others and all of their signatures went into almost a sleep state, but they were still walking. Ryder's grip loosened even more on his hand, but kept hold lightly. Kanan couldn't help but worry about why the wolves hadn't put him in a trance too. _What do they want with me? And how do they know my old name? _They had seemed particularly determined to make sure he was going on this journey with them. _Why? And why do __I have a bad feeling about this?_

Kanan found out soon enough.

The line of wolves and people walked through the portal, which was once a solid rock wall. One of the wolves stepped through last and the portal closed behind it. Kanan focused behind him and couldn't 'see' the swirling light anymore; just a very large and intimidating signature of a wolf that growled softly at him to keep moving.

_"I get it,'_" he thought to the wolf experimentally. _"You don't have to be rude about it.'_"

The wolf huffed out a canine laugh. _"Of course I do. I'm a big, bad wolf."_ The foreign thought was definitely not Kanan's.

_Well, that answers the question of how intelligent the beasties are. _ _No wonder Ezra was talking to them like they were smart enough to answer; because they can. Kriffing amazing. _

Kanan couldn't see what they were walking on now, but it didn't feel like rock or dirt or even duracrete. The ground beneath them didn't feel like anything he'd ever felt before but he imagined it would be similar to the sensation of walking on water, if that were even possible.

The space around Kanan felt vast and limitless; empty but full at the same time in the most confusing fashion. There were random streaks of light energy crisscrossing and swooping all around him, and after a moment, he figured out they were walking on one of the streaks of light. There were also circles of still energy to the sides of the streaks of light. Kanan concluded those might be more portals.

To say he was feeling pretty much flabbergasted and mind blown would be an understatement.

His sarcastic side snorted at him again. _Get a grip, Jarrus. You're supposed to be a composed Jedi Knight who is fazed by nothing now. Prove it. _

_Ha. _

He wished Ezra was awake so he could describe what he saw, but Kanan could feel how quiet his padawan's mind was. There was no way he was actually registering any of this.

Suddenly, Kanan felt very large teeth grab the back of his shirt near the collar. _Great. Now I'm going to be puppy chow. _The last wolf had been practically breathing down his neck, but he hadn't felt any real menace from it, leaving him very surprised by the sudden attack.

The wolf picked Kanan up, making him lose the loose grip he had on Ryder's hand, and he threw the Jedi over the edge of the streak of light they were walking on. _Ahhhhhh! _He swallowed the scream in his head as he fell through empty space, determinedly regaining his ability to think clearly out of training alone. Kanan fell a few more metres before he spotted another streak of light and just managed to catch the edge of it with one hand. He hung for a moment, suspended by his fingertips and caught his breath before he pulled himself up onto the pathway and flopped down onto his back. _Force, that has to be in the top ten most frightening things I think I've ever had happen to me. _

As he calmed his racing heart, Kanan sought out the signatures of the others, but they were gone.

He had been thrown into this pit of endlessness and left behind.

On purpose.

_Frag._

Despair overwhelmed him for a minute or two as morbid thoughts flooded him.

_I'll never see Hera again. Never see our child I just found out we're having. Never see Ezra again. Or Sabine. Or Zeb. I'll never feel the sun on my face again. Or feel the wind or the grass. Never feel Hera's soft weight in my arms. Never eat space waffles again with yogan syrup. _

_I'm going to die here._

_Alone._

_I don't want to die._

Kanan gave himself a mental slap.

There was no need for dramatics just yet. The wolves must have had a reason for this. He just had to figure it out.

He got down on his knees in the pose that instantly gave him a sense of comfort and familiarity and cleared his mind. It was time for some serious meditation.

The Force would help him. It always did, when he let it.

* * *

Ezra didn't know he'd been asleep until he woke up in the dark with the white lothcat standing on his chest and licking his face with its rough tongue. _"Hi." _Chuckling, he scratched it behind the ear, making it purr in pleasure, as he sat up and looked around.

He was lying on a rocky section in the mountains which were tipped with snow, the white easy to see against the star speckled sky and the large forms of Zeb and Ryder were sprawled out on the ground nearby.

_Wait._

_Snow?_

_Stars?_

_Where the kriff am I?_

Ezra could have sworn he was just in a warm section of Lothal before they went into the caves. And it had been midmorning at the latest. His eyes widened as he realized there should be more people here, wherever HERE was.

_Sabine! Where's Sabine?! And Kanan!_

Closing his eyes, he reached for his Force bonds, then sighed in relief as he sensed Sabine very near and in no distress._ Thank the Force. _He didn't sense Kanan nearby yet, but put off worrying about him for another minute. Ezra sprang to his feet, which dislodged the lothcat, who give him a very disgusted look. _"Sorry."_ The tooka scrunched his nose at him and meandered off, tail twitching in the air, indignation radiating from his little body. Ezra ignored the tooka's displeasure in favour of searching for his girlfriend.

He relaxed as he saw a portion of her body on the other side of a boulder only a few metres away. Her colourful armour was muted in the dark, but still stood out against the deep colours of the rocks. Bounding over to her in two big steps, Ezra knelt beside her and pulled her upper body into his lap and across one arm, then tugged off her helmet. _Stars, she's beautiful. Moonlight is definitely her friend. Still can't believe she's mine now. _

She looked so peaceful in her sleep it was almost a shame to wake her, but he did anyway because something wasn't right. Aside from the time and location change, the Force didn't feel right, if that made sense. It felt kind of like it was calling out for help, its cries increasing in intensity as he focused on it for half a moment. _Very strange indeed._

The young Jedi stroked the back of a finger over her soft cheek, wondering if there was time to pull his gloves off and indulge in the sensual pleasure that was her, but deciding against it, especially with Zeb or Ryder likely to wake up any second. She hmmmmed faintly, the hint of a smile curving her lips upward. He did allow himself to indulge in something that he hadn't yet had the opportunity to try, since their changed relationship was only half a month in the making; Ezra curled downwards and pressed his mouth to hers ever so gently, kissing her awake, his eyes closing in contentment. _Sabine... So sweet. So soft. _

She hmmmed in pleasure as she woke, her lips pressing back against his and her arm snaking around his neck and pulling him down just a little closer. Ezra decided he liked kissing her awake very much indeed and hoped to do so a thousand more times in the future. That would be easier if they didn't have to keep their relationship a secret, but Sabine was afraid her family would hunt him down and eviscerate him in his sleep or something like that if they found out. He'd decided to indulge her for now, but Ezra wanted the whole shebang; marriage, kids, and all. There was no way they were going to keep this secret for long. Besides, he had the feeling that Kanan already knew; it was practically impossible to keep secrets from his Master now.

* * *

"Ezra..." Sabine moaned softly into mouth giving her such pleasure. She didn't know where she was or what was happening, but her body registered his strong arms around her and the sweetest of kisses that made her heart melt. _By the Mando, I want more._

So she took it.

Their sweet kiss went from loving to passionate in an instant when her tongue demanded entry and Ezra conveniently forgot the possibility of getting caught._ Whatever my Lady wishes. _He opened his mouth and let her clever tongue dominate his. Ezra almost instantly became lost in the still new sensations of such overwhelming desire for a minute or so, but that sense of urgency from the Force eventually made itself known again and stopped him from getting too carried away. He reluctantly pulled back.

Sabine automatically tried to follow until her eyes opened and she smiled at him with a flash of teeth in the dark for half an instant before she registered that it was nighttime and cold enough to see their panting breaths in the moonlight. _Shab, where are we? Why is it dark?_ She immediately scrambled off Ezra's lap and jumped to her feet. She looked around in a state of battle readiness, her hands on her blasters and tension thrumming though her. A brief sense of relief flittered through her as she spotted Zeb and Ryder lying nearby, but they were still missing one very important person. _Where's Kanan?_

* * *

_And there's my warrior goddess. Always ready for battle. _

If the situation wasn't so weird and worrisome, Ezra would have laughed.

He'd seen this reaction from her before countless times, such as when they were on long stakeout missions and she'd been startled awake by something when it was his turn to keep watch. (Usually him accidentally making some sort of noise.) His warrior girl was always ready for anything and you didn't want to get on her bad side by waking her up unless there was a good reason. She was also very good at putting a bruise on his arm if she thought for even an instant he'd done it on purpose. (He might have, once or twice when he was bored out of his mind.) Either way, he now knew he could kiss her awake and very much like the consequences._ Sweet. Definitely going to have make an effort at waking up first in the future. _Visions of her naked form wrapped in his arms in her bunk came to mind, making him smile to himself briefly.

Ezra rose to his feet as well, at about half the speed, and stood beside her. He put a hand on the small of her back, still thrilling that he now had the privilege to do such things, and siphoned off a bit of her adrenaline high through their bond and gave it to the Force. Sabine turned her head and looked up at him as her muscles relaxed a tiny fraction under his hand but her hands stayed on her blasters. "Where the kriff are we?"

"I don't know," Ezra replied with a shrug, looking apologetic that he couldn't answer her question.

"And where's Kanan?" she said, shrugging off his hand and walking back to her helmet and plunking it back on her head, indicating she wasn't comfortable with the situation and was still prepared for war.

Zeb groaned at the moment as he flopped over onto his back before popping up to his feet with wide eyes. "Ermm, Ezra, what did your freaky wolves do to us?"

Ryder's eyes popped open at that moment and he sat up, looking around wildly with comically wide eyes that shone in the dark. "Where the kriff are we?" he demanded.

Ezra chuckled quietly to himself. "That does appear to be the question of the hour, doesn't it?" Since Zeb had the best night vision, the best hearing, and a better than average sense of smell, he asked the lasat, "You don't sense Kanan anywhere nearby, do you?"

Zeb focused for a moment, peering around them, sniffing, and his ears pricked. Finding nothing, he shook his head slowly, ears flattening in worry. "Kanan!" he called out loud enough to wake the dead, turning around in a circle as if that would make their fearless leader appear.

"Where's Kanan?" Sabine said again worriedly, looking at Ezra expectantly.

_Good question. Let's try this again. _

Ezra closed his eyes and reached for his bond with Kanan. And stretched even further. It took every ounce of concentration he had to find the tiny flicker that was Kanan within him. It was so faint, so far away, but still there. This was even worse than when he was on the other side of the galaxy when they ran separate missions. But Ezra knew Kanan had been on Lothal with them not even... Actually, he didn't know when that was anymore. Everything was so confusing.

He opened his eyes to see everyone peering at him with hopeful looks. "Did you find him?" Zeb asked. On a normal day, this request would be well within his capabilities. But today was not normal.

Ezra shook his head in remorse. "I don't know where he is. He's alive, but very very far away. Like, other side of the galaxy far away. Or further."

"Kriff," and, "Karabast," came from Sabine and Zeb at the same time. Ezra nodded in agreement.

"How did this even happen?" Ryder asked.

"I don't know that either. The wolves did something, I guess." Ezra said with another shrug.

Speaking of animals, he noticed that the white lothcat had made itself scarce once again. He also noticed the white outline of the alpha lothwolf standing on an outcropping of rock about half a kilometre away. Ezra got the impression he was only seeing him now because he wanted him to.

A rush of anger swirled through him that he had to fight to push away. _Control. Calm. Don't let the anger rule you. Breathe._

Without a word to the others, Ezra took off running towards the wolf, bounding across the distance in a handful of Force assisted leaps.

"Ezra! Where...?" Sabine called after him before her voice faded away as she also spotted his target. Ezra didn't bother to answer her, apparently assuming they would follow him at their own shook her head at his typical impulsive behavior and set off to follow at a more human like speed, Zeb keeping up with her easily and Ryder not doing too bad for an older man.

When Ezra was close enough, he skidded to a stop and glared at the wolf, still fighting with his anger but controlling it, barely. Ezra glared at the wolf. "What did you do to Kanan?!" he demanded.

The lothwolf didn't bother to answer, either out loud or in his mind. He just stared at Ezra with those glowing gold eyes for a moment before he turned his head and looked off in the distance. Frustrated, Ezra followed his gaze and stopped breathing as he finally understood why the Force was crying.

The Empire had found the Jedi Temple and they were tearing it apart, floodlights illuminating their camp and what was left of the mountain Temple. There were blocks of stone lined up in rows as they systematically shaved the Temple down one layer at a time. The inner doors had sealed themselves off, but it wouldn't be long before they managed to dig right past them with the massive machines he could see parked under the lights. "No." Ezra breathed out, eyes stinging from sudden tears. "Force, no." He blinked the tears back and looked at the wolf again. "Where is Kanan?" he asked again, in a quieter, much more resigned tone.

The wolf huffed a wolfy sigh and looked at the Temple again. _"In the mountain, but not."_

_What? _Ezra was confused.

"What do you mean? I don't feel him nearby. Are you sure?"

The wolf glared at Ezra like he was asking a stupid question.

Ezra supposed he was. If anyone knew where Kanan was, it would be the wolf that had dropped him off somewhere else. "Sorry," he apologized softly.

The wolf actually rolled its eyes at him and opened its mouth in something resembling a smirk. _"Human has much to learn about Force."_

_No kidding._

Sabine and the others came running up at this point, finally catching up. They skidded to a stop as well as they saw the Imperial encampment off in the distance. "What the karabast?!" Zeb exclaimed.

"This can't be good_," _Sabine said as she used her helmet to zoom in on the activity in the distance. "Is that the Temple?" she asked quietly, coming to stand beside Ezra. He appreciated the silent support. He wasn't suprised that she'd figured out where they were, she was more than smart enough to figure out the puzzle pieces of what she was looking at even though she'd never seen the Jedi Temple before.

"Yeah. What's left of it," Ezra said morosely. "And according to Wolfy here, Kanan's in there. Sort of."

"How did he...?" She started to say, and then wisely stopped herself with a shake of the head, having long ago stopped questioning their weird Force powers. "That doesn't matter. It's obvious what we were brought here for; we have to stop them and find Kanan."

Ezra smiled at his girl thankfully, so grateful she was the no nonsense type whose mission in life seemed to be figuring out how to get things done in the fastest, most efficient way possibly. (And if it involved blowing up whatever was in her way, all the better.) "That's exactly what I was thinking."

'Wolfy' (who had chuffed in amusement when Ezra called him that) picked up what he thought was just another large rock in his sharp teeth and carried it over to Ezra, dropping it within a fraction of his toes, then looked from it to Ezra and back again meaningfully. "LISTEN," he very clearly rumbled out in his deep voice.

"Holy poodoo," Ryder breathed, the only one left who wasn't somewhat inured to the strange and unbelievable that happened around Kanan and Ezra on a regular basis. "It talks!"

Ezra smirked. "I did say so this morning when I explained how Sabine and I ended up back at camp. It's not my fault no one but Kanan believed me."

"I think I might have to start," Ryder muttered.

Ryder and the others, who had all scrambled back when the wolf approached, all crept forward again and stared down at the rock as Sabine shone a light on it. But it wasn't a rock, it was actually a piece of a stone tablet or something with many patterns and symbols on it.

"What is this?" Ezra asked the lothwolf before looking up, but he was gone. Just like that. Without a sound or even a whisper of air. _Freaky._

"Where'd he go?" Zeb essentially whined, looking rather scared for a massive male being.

"Don't know," Ezra shrugged slightly. "But I don't sense him anymore, so he's probably gone for now. On the other hand..." he added, unable to resist the temptation of messing with Zeb a little. "...he might be circling around so he can pounce on you from behind."

Zeb whirled, his bo-rifle appearing in his hands in an instant as he peered into the dark around them, ears flat to his head and a hint of growl rumbling from him.

Ezra held back the chuckles for as long as he could, but they emerged eventually anyway, which made Sabine laugh too. Ryder didn't seem as inclined towards humour and just shook his head at him like he was a naughty child. That just made Ezra grin at the much older man cheekily.

Zeb whirled back around and snarled at Ezra as he realized he'd been pranked. "I oughta shoot you just because."

The boy held his arms out in an 'I'm unarmed' motion. "Be my guest. But you get to tell Kanan and Hera why I'm out of commission."

Zeb grumbled to himself as he slid his rifle to his back again, giving Ezra a dirty look that translated to, 'I'll get you later, you brat'.

Ezra smirked and gave him his own, 'Bring it, furball' look. They'd perfected these looks years ago and no longer needed the words that used to go with them, and they still worked great. It was nice having an older brother / uncle type person to bug.

Sabine just dropped her natural shields and deliberately thought loud enough for Ezra to pick up, "_You'd think they'd have gotten past their childish theatrics by now. It's obvious that males never fully grow up. At least Ezra's got that cute Jedi warrior thing going for him." _He shot her a grin in the semi-dark, just because. "_Cheeky nerfherder." _Ezra chuffed with amusement, his love for her filling him to the brink again.

Apparently ready for a change of subject, and oblivious to the silent byplay going on beside him, Zeb nudged the tablet with a furry foot. "So what's this?"

All of the males looked at their resident genius; the one and only Sabine Wren. (Hopefully soon to be Wren-Bridger, if Ezra had any say in it.)

She huffed, and Ezra was almost certain she was rolling her eyes at them under her helmet. (She was.)

With a sigh, Sabine pulled her helmet off as she knelt in front of the tablet, running a hand through the dark silk of her hair absently to straighten it in an automatic gesture. She placed her helmet down beside her and then traced the symbols that swirled over the tablet and three differently configured hands. _Well, these are different. Exciting, for sure, but perplexing. _"I wish Wolfy'd told you what these symbols mean before taking off," she said with an air of exasperation. "I've never seen anything like them before. But, maybe, if I can get close to the Temple and see more to compare them to, I can figure out what they mean."

"Then that's what we'll do," Ezra said eagerly. "We have to get in there anyway to get Kanan."

"Do you really think going down there is a good idea?" Ryder said, attempting to be the voice of reason. "Even though it's night, I see enough people wandering around that there's no way you're going to be able to just sneak in."

"I wasn't planning on sneaking," Ezra said smugly as he watched a couple of specs that quickly grew into scout troopers do a perimeter sweep of the area on their bikes. Walking up to the edge of the cliff they were standing on, he kept an eye on their progress as he continued to talk. "I was thinking of walking right in like we belong."

And with that, Ezra dove off the edge, arms spread and a grin on his face as the wind whipped past.


	2. Healing

**Healing:**

_The World Between Worlds..._

Kanan's sense of time was long gone by the time he finally had a breakthrough within himself.

For hours, or maybe it was days, he knelt in his comforting meditation pose and ran through the usual meditation routines, letting the Force fill him with its presence. It was very soothing, to be sure, but he also felt like he wasn't accomplishing anything he couldn't be doing in any other place other than this one.

This place was special. Kanan knew it. He could feel it. It was a gateway land. The Force played here like a happy child with the wisdom of an ancient grandmother. It was free, but restrained. Joyful, but resigned. Light, but contained within the Dark. The Force was everything. In everything. Of everything.

And the longer he meditated, the more he felt like the Force was chiding him for not SEEING. Not HEARING. Not UNDERSTANDING.

The frustration at himself got the best of him.

Ripping the mask off his face, Kanan slammed it into the wave of light he was kneeling on and stood abruptly. "What do you want from me?!" Kanan called out into the vast space that was empty and yet not. "Why am I here?!"

His voice echoed and bounced, taunting him. "_What do you want? Do you want? You want? Want?_ _Want? Want?"_

That gave Kanan pause, and he froze, barely breathing. _It can't be a coincidence that only those lines echoed back, can it?_ He doubted it very much.

_So... What do I want? _ Well, that list was probably a truly long one. But there were a few that stood out.

_I want peace for the galaxy._

_I want to SEE Hera again._

_I want to change the past so that the Jedi Order never fell and my Master didn't die._

_I want to raise a family with Hera and live happily ever after with her and the rest of my Spectre family._

Even just thinking these things made his heart hurt and his limbs tremble with longing.

But of all of those options, there was only one that Kanan had promised to do and had broken his word on. "I want to see my Hera again," Kanan whispered in a torn voice, eyes stinging with the tears that rose at how hopeless he felt in that moment.

As the minutes dragged on with no earth shattering event happening in the quiet space, he sank back down to his knees and bowed his head. Mocking laughter escaped him for thinking the echoes had meant anything. It was just a trick of the space.

**"_Listen with your heart, young one_,"** a gentle female voice said softly nearby, making Kanan's head snap up and point towards the sound. _What was that?_

He focused on one of the portal entrances only a metre or so to his right and felt the extra energy in it, saw the brilliant swirling light that meant an open portal. _Was the voice coming from there?_

**"_Like this_?"** a young sounding male voice asked.

**"_Exactly_."** The female praised. **"_Now focus on the patient and tell me where he hurts_."**

Kanan waited with bated breath for the youngling's answer. It sounded like he was hearing a lesson between a Force Healer and her Padawan. Even when the Temple was still in existence, gifted Force Healers had stopped being born long ago. No one knew why, and the art of healing with the Force had been essentially lost, with the exception of what amounted to first aid. Perhaps it was because they'd become so dependent on bacta tanks and med droids, the Force had removed the gift from the Jedi.

**"_He has a concussion. His brain is whimpering_,"** the youngling whispered.

**"_Very good_,"** the Healer said. **"_Now focus with your mind and picture the injured area. Sooth it with the Force. Picture the individual brain cells repairing themselves one at a time. You don't want to rush and miss any._"**

**"_Yes, Master_,"** the padawan whispered.

Kanan was so focused on their conversation he could even hear their breathing and ended up smiling in shared triumph with the youngling when he gave a little cheer of completion some ten minutes later.

**"_I did it! His brain feels happy again_."**

**"_Yes, you did_," **the Master replied, her tone warm.

**"_Shouldn't he wake up now_?"** the padawan's voice trembled with worry all of a sudden.

**"_He will when he's ready_,"** she reassured. **"_His brain has gone through a traumatic experience. It's resting and rebooting now, you can feel it if you listen with your heart again."_**

There was a pause again, and then the padawan's voice was much happier.** "_Yes, yes I can. He really is all right_."**

**"_You did very well today, my little Padawan_,"** the Master praised. **"_Come now, it's time for our dinner_."**

**"_Thank you, Master_."**

Snapping out of his wonderment of what he was hearing, Kanan realized this was the opportunity he'd been asking for. "Wait!" he cried, surging to his feet once again and stumbling towards the portal, hand reaching helplessly. But he was too late. The energy in the portal snapped away and it felt dormant again.

Feeling defeated and cruelly teased, Kanan sank to his knees for the third time. _Does the Force hate me to tease me so? Is this payback for all the years I spent pushing it away and smothering it in booze?_

So close. He'd been so close to someone who could heal his eyes. Kanan had thought he'd worked through all the grief and angst of his injury, but that one moment of hope had brought it all rushing back and now he felt just as despairing as ever.

He wanted to scream. He wanted to bawl like an infant. He wanted to curl up in a ball and hide from the world.

And he almost did all of those things, but his last instinct stuck a heavy cord and made him think.

He'd already done his stint of hiding from the world; and trapped in here, he was cut off from his family again, whether voluntarily or not. And if he didn't get his act together, Kanan would be hiding from the world for the rest of his life. (However long that would be in a space that didn't seem like it was meant to sustain life.) That would be terribly unfair to Hera and their unborn child. Unfair to Ezra and everyone else who was counting on him. Unfair to even himself for just giving up. _I'm sorry. Sorry for giving up. _He apologized to the Force. To Hera. To Ezra. To himself.

He felt kilos lighter as some of the grief and guilt lifted from his shoulders, floating away into the Force. But there was still more weighing on him.

Kanan now had the vague idea that he might be able to influence the portals in some fashion, but he wasn't counting on it. He might have to find another way out of here.

_But first... I need to try something._

_No._

Kanan took that thought back.

_I need to DO something._ There is no try, after all, when it comes to the Force.

Settling more comfortably into his meditation pose, he listened to the Force with his heart and followed it to where he hurt the most.

And it wasn't his eyes like you'd expect.

The first place within him that hurt was his essential self, his soul, his psyche, whatever you wanted to call it.

Being left here had reopened a wound that he'd thought he'd truly sealed closed after talking with the Bendu. Losing his sight had done such a number on his confidence that it had taken months to come back to something resembling normal. And even more months to learn to deal with it. He'd thought the Bendu had helped him past the final hurdle, which was to open his mind to truly see with the Force, but now he knew that hadn't been the end of it.

This experience had shown him that.

Kanan thought he'd learned how to let go of what he loved. Whether it be his vision, or Hera, or his Padawan; he thought he'd already come to terms with these things being taken away from him at any given time. But being thrown in this endless space with no clear path out had brought a disturbing amount of panic and despair that no true Jedi Master should ever feel. Not that he claimed to be a Master, but he did strive towards being one.

He needed to do more than just resign himself to the possibility that he may never see Hera or his family again; he needed to truly accept it as the possible will of the Force, just like losing his sight had been the will of the Force. And even if he made it back to them today or tomorrow, the Force might see fit to take him away from them again the next week.

All he could do was his very best for them to see that they were as prepared as possible for life without him in it.

Which, he realized, was already done.

He'd taught Ezra everything he could possibly teach him about the Force, combat, life, family, and love. And the boy wasn't really a boy anymore. Not at eighteen years old. Not with the title of Lieutenant Commander attached to his name. And definitely not if he'd grown up enough that Sabine had finally seen past the childish flirting Ezra had subjected her to so many years ago and found the man within him to fall in love with. Ezra didn't need Kanan anymore. Not really. In fact, Ezra was ready to take the final trial to become a Jedi Knight. And it was a bittersweet realization, as it brought home the fact that Ezra had accomplished in just three and a half years what most Jedi took at least sixteen years to accomplish but was more like an average of eighteen.

Kanan was so proud of his Padawan.

Technically, Kanan was above average as well, because, despite only being Knighted two years ago, he had been fourteen when the Order was exterminated, and had only truly become a Jedi again after Ezra joined the crew, so that made it roughly fifteen years of learning to become a Knight for him. It would have been a noteworthy accomplishment if he hadn't spent a good portion of his life being as un Jedi like as he could manage. He figured it balanced out to the point where he was just a so-so Jedi; nothing special or worth remembering.

But Ezra... He was special. He was just so genuinely good and caring that everyone he met was drawn to him, sometimes without even realizing it. _Force, I wish I could introduce him to Master Depa_. _She would have loved Ezra too._

And as far as Hera and their child was concerned, there wasn't much more he could do to ensure them a safe and happy future. As he'd learned long ago, Hera was fiercely independent and scoffed at the idea of settling down in one place as long as there were people that needed help. He'd never been able to provide her with a home or the financial stability of a 9-5 job, but she hadn't wanted him to. He was pretty sure she would have hated him eventually if he'd tried. What Hera did have was a very strong circle of friends and family that would stand by her to the very end. And she had built that all on her own.

Technically, aside from being an asset to her missions, Hera didn't really need him. At least not logically. But he knew that she loved him unconditionally, just as he did her, and that together they were stronger than alone. _I miss her already. So much. _

Out of habit, he reached for their bond for comfort and found it to be a miniscule fraction of what he normally felt from her. Concerned, even though he knew she'd made it past the blockade and had jumped to hyperspace successfully in the sketchy, patched together old U-Wing, he tried Ezra and found the same thing.

That reassured him that it was this place that was interfering with his connections to Hera and Ezra and not that she was floating in space somewhere, on the verge of expiring. _Maybe I'm just that far from them. _The thought was mind boggling. And depressing. But he breathed past that, and gave the last of his negative emotions to the Force.

As Kanan felt the last vestiges of an invisible weight lift from his shoulders, he felt whole again for the first time in much too long. He had finally, after too many trials to think about, learned to let go. The Force gave him a little nudge of congratulations, making him smile slightly. As a youngling, he'd never quite believed that the Force was an entity into and of itself; that it was just a supply of power to tap into. But after too many years of avoiding it, and more years relearning it, Kanan finally understood what it meant to be one with the limitless entity known as the Force. It was like having another family member that you could always count on to be there for you. It was also like the wise old grandparent that knew too much and earned your respect despite yourself for the knowledge they contained. (Even when that knowledge didn't seem like it was to your advantage.)

Kanan sighed as a hint of humour rippled through the Force. _"What do you want?" _echoed through his mind again, planted there by the Force, helping him to get back on track to his original purpose. Now that he'd settled the wound in his soul once and for all, he went after the more physical.

His eyes.

In Kanan's mind, with a little help from the Force, a picture formed of the orbs that used to let him see, and he saw the burnt and frazzled nerve endings that had never healed properly. He saw the clouded over lenses that had formed in a last ditch effort to protect his eyes. He saw the thick scar tissue in each individual skin cell around those eyes. _Yeesh. It's a wonder I still have them at all. Even more miraculous is how Hera never turned from me. I must be grotesque like this._

One cell at a time, one fried nerve ending at a time, taking painstaking care, Kanan sent a bit of Force energy to the injured areas and watched them bloom and glow within his mind. It felt like it took hours, but he was determined to get this right so he didn't care. A Master Healer could probably have fixed him in a fraction of the time. _Kriff, even the padawan could have fixed me faster,_ he thought with wry amusement, but Kanan was slowly but surely healing himself and euphoria was seeping into his bones with every cell he could see repair itself with the assistance of the Force and his determination.

Finally, Kanan thought his purpose was complete. He couldn't find any more cells to heal. Everything in his mind's eye was glowing happily and practically dancing with the Force filling him right now.

Taking a deep breath for courage, Kanan reached up and felt the skin around his eyes. It felt smooth again, perhaps even smoother than before Maul's lightsabre strike.

So he opened his eyes.

And blinked. And blinked again. Then gasped in startled wonder.

Kanan could see, and it was like he was floating in space without the ice cold vacuum. (Which he could say for a fact that it was brutal, after having experienced it not once, but twice.)

It was black, so black, but tiny stars twinkled everywhere, and it took him a moment to realize that each star represented yet another portal. There had to be millions of portals. And they were all connected by winding, almost invisible paths that had no rhyme or reason; just meandered up, down, and around in whatever way they wished.

_I could wander around in here until I'm old and grey and never see a portal that would lead me home._

But Kanan refused to let that thought settle.

_I will go home to my family again. I will see my Hera again. I will see my child when it is born. I will see Ezra and Sabine and Zeb again. Gahhhhh. I'll even be happy to see that stupid droid again._

_Are you sure about that last bit? _his inner demon teased.

_Maybe not. But don't tell Hera._

Smiling in amusement at his inner monologue, he tilted his head down and shook it, which brought his attention to his clothes. _Oh, stars, I missed seeing things in colour. How is it possible to get all weepy over seeing the colour green again? _

_You think gawking at a green shirt is great, just wait till you see Hera again in all her naked glory, _his teenage self smirked.

_Excellent point. _Now he was practically drooling in anticipation. _It is definitely time to get out of here. _

Kanan took the two steps back to the mask he'd dropped and picked it up, finger tracing the jaig eyes that Sabine had painted on the dark green mask she made him, remembering the day she'd given it to him.

"_I put jaig eyes on it for you, Kanan_," she'd said, her voice softer and more tentative then he'd ever heard from her before. "_They're worn only by those who have proven themselves in honourable combat. You have more than earned the right to wear them. I hope you're okay with that_."

Kanan remembered reaching out to where he sensed her presence to be and tentatively patting what he dearly hoped was a shoulder. "_Thank you, Sabine. This means a lot to me_."

Then she'd surprised the heck out of him by hugging him for three whole seconds really hard before running away. She'd never hugged Kanan before that. In fact, he didn't know if she'd hugged anyone before that. But since... Well, she wasn't exactly a cuddler, but she did sit closer to people and even leaned on them once in a while. And she'd even given Kanan a couple more hugs, the most notable of which was when she'd stayed behind on Krownest.

Now Kanan smiled at the memory as he looked at the stylized shriek hawk eyes on his mask, finally getting to appreciate her art again. A memory of another set of eyes just like them in blue set on a white helmet had him chuckling to himself. _I wonder what Rex thought of us having the same symbol on our faces?_

Still absently tracing the markings, he admired the work, thinking these were by far better than the simple ones on Rex's helmet. Kanan was going to have to get Sabine to show him everything she'd painted over the last couple years, even if that meant wandering all over Capital City on both Lothal and Garel so she could point out all her graffiti. He missed seeing her artwork in real live colour.

Spurred by a rumble in his stomach, Kanan got a move on and started walking down the pathway in front of him before he remembered that the wolves had been leading them on a much higher pathway. Gathering the abundant Force around him, he leapt up, and up again, until he was three pathways higher. He wasn't sure if this was the right one, but at least it had to be closer.

"Okay portals, show me what you got," Kanan mumbled to them as he started walking again. And just like that, all the portals around him turned on, multiple voices speaking all at once, startling Kanan.

_Kriff, I didn't think that would actually work._

Snorting at himself for not giving the Force more credit, Kanan strode down the path to the closest portal, drawn by the sound a familiar voice.


	3. Masters

**Masters:**

**_"The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us. It penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together."_ **

_Master Kenobi! Master Kenobi! _Feeling like a youngling again with how excited he was to hear a voice from his past that still gave him a sense of safety and comfort, Kanan nearly skidded to a stop in front of the portal, eyes eagerly searching for a familiar copper headed Jedi Master. What he found was a grey haired old man in a room with a blond boy about Ezra's age, and two droids that looked disturbingly like the ones he knew worked for Senator Organa.

Kanan blinked at the image as an old version of Master Kenobi stood and walked over to the droid he was pretty sure was called Artoo. Ezra had said that Master Kenobi wasn't the same as in the image of the holocron, but holy stars, had he ever aged! Then again, so had Kanan. He was decidedly more grown up than the last time he'd seen Master Kenobi in person, that's for sure. _Would Master Kenobi even recognize me now? I have grown a bit since I was thirteen._

_Ya think? _Sarcastic Kanan made a reappearance.

Artoo had been beeping something while Kanan was gawking. Playing it back in his mind, he was pretty sure the droid said something about a message for Obi-Wan Kenobi.

**_"Now, let's see if we can't figure out what you are my little friend."_ **Obi-Wan patted the dome of Artoo a couple times._** "And where you come from."** _

Kanan raised a brow at that. Now, he could be wrong, but he seemed to recall that Anakin Skywalker had a silver and blue astromech called Artoo that was practically a hero of the war right along with his master. It was possible that there were more than just one silver and blue R2 units rolling around the galaxy, but Kanan didn't think it was a coincidence that Senator Organa ended up with the most famous one. And if all of that was the case, then Obi-Wan should recognize his Padawan's astromech, old age setting in not.

**_"I saw part of the message he..."_ **the boy started to say while he was working on a sleeping Threepio even as Artoo projected a hologram of a familiar Princess, the one and only Leia Organa, looking a couple years older than the last time he'd seen her in person on Lothal. He'd heard her voice quite a few times between then and now, though, sitting in on Rebellion meetings.

**_"I seem to have found it,"_ **Obi-Wan cut him off dryly.

The image of Leia straightened up and she started speaking. _**"General Kenobi, years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars."** _Kanan snorted at that. The Jedi weren't supposed to be slaves to the Senate, but it sure had ended up that way._** "Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire. I regret that I am unable to present my father's request to you in person, but my ship is under attack and my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. I've placed information vital to the survival of the Rebellion into the memory systems of this R2 unit. You must see this droid safely delivered to him on Alderaan. This is our most desperate hour. Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope."**_

The people in the image were silent and thoughtful as the hologram of the Princess disappeared. Kanan was equally silent, stunned at this glimpse of what was definitely the future, because he knew for a fact that Leia Organa had never been sent to get Master Kenobi. _In fact. If anyone would be sent to get the old Master, wouldn't it have made more sense to send Ezra? Or even me? Which begs the question; what had happened to Ezra and I that Organa would send his daughter to find Master Obi-Wan. And... not making it, obviously._ Hearing that her ship was under attack was worrying as well. _And what vital information did Artoo have? So many questions!_

Obi-Wan looked over at the boy, a glint of mischief in his old blue grey eyes. _"**You must learn the ways of the Force, if you're to come with me to Alderaan."** _

The boy looked completely taken aback by the idea. **_"Alderaan? I'm not going to Alderaan."_ **He rose, picking up something from his lap that had been hidden until now. Kanan barely heard his next words as he stared at the lightsabre in the boy's hands, certain he'd seen it before many times. Once, in person, hooked to the belt of Anakin Skywalker, and multiple times as he played the training images of Skywalker stored in his holocron._ I know that lightsabre. I'm sure of it. _

The boy in the image kept talking, oblivious to his observer's stunned countenance. **_"It's late. I've got to get home. I'm going to be in for it as is."_**

Kanan's mind was whirling, thinking that he'd finally figured out why Master Obi-Wan had stayed hidden for so many years. And why Senator Organa had lied about him being dead since it was now clear that the Senator had known about Obi-Wan all this time AND where he was. First, Master Obi-Wan said the boy could be trained in the ways of the Force, meaning he was Force sensitive. Second, Obi-Wan had apparently given the boy Anakin Skywalker's lightsabre. Third, now that he looked, he could see a striking resemblance between the teenager and Anakin, who hadn't been much older when he made those training holos. Kanan could only conclude that the boy was Skywalker's son and that Obi-Wan had been guarding him all these years. _Rightly so, if he is even half as strong in the Force as his father was._ Kanan could just imagine what would have happened to the boy if Palpatine had found him. He'd be another Inquisitor, or worse, a future replacement for Darth Vader. _That would suck worse than space. One petrifying psycho in black is enough, thank you very much. _

Oh. And he wasn't even remotely surprised that Anakin Skywalker had a son. The Knight's face was always plastered all over the holo news and he had about a billion fans who worshipped him like a movie star. Somewhere along the way, Anakin must have given into temptation. _Probably more than once._

_Okay, I do not need to be thinking about Anakin Skywalker's supposed sexual conquests. It's bad enough that I have my own memories to draw on from my bar hopping days as I skipped across the galaxy like a bloody fool, trying to avoid the Force always whispering like a concerned parent at the back of my mind. _

_You were a coward, _something that sounded suspiciously like Master Windu's voice said.

Kanan unfortunately couldn't dispute his Grandmaster's truth, even if it was just his own mental voice trying to make a point. _Yes, I was. But I'm stronger now. I'm not alone anymore. _

Thank the Force for Hera, or he'd probably be long dead by now of liver failure or some vile STD. She was the best gift the Force could have ever given him. Ezra was a close second. Between the two of them, Kanan felt more whole than he ever had in his entire life. And it was incredibly nice.

Kanan had been thinking so hard, he'd completely missed the rest of the scene and just caught the back end of the droids leaving the otherwise empty room. He sighed and walked on, disappointed that he didn't get to learn more about the young Skywalker. (If that was his name.)

The next portal was a bit of a trudge away and disturbingly followed a path that appeared to dip straight down, which turned out to be only an illusion like the lack of up or down when in space. His feet stayed glued to the path of light and he never felt like he was walking anything but upright. The time passed quickly as Kanan thought back over everything that he'd learned that day. It had been an insane day, all things considered, starting with finding out that he was going to be a father (_Holy poodoo!_), the discovery of talking lothwolves (_Holy poodoo times two!_), the return of his sight (_Holy poodoo times three!_), and ending with the knowledge that there was another Skywalker wandering around on Tatooine right this minute who probably didn't know who he was. (_Holy poodoo times four!)_ If he did, Master Kenobi wouldn't be telling him about the Force sometime in the near future.

As the somewhat shell-shocked Jedi approached the next portal, the voices became clearer amongst all of the others that echoed around the vast space. (The Force was making fun of his request, he was sure, by playing so many time portals all at once.)

_**"Only a fully trained Jedi Knight, with the Force as an ally, will conquer Vader and his Emperor. If you end your training now; if you choose the quick and easy path, as Vader did, you will become an agent of evil."** _

Kanan paused in his steps as what was unmistakably Master Yoda's voice filled the space around him, but it sounded so sad, like he'd never heard it before. And his way of speaking things backwards was nearly missing. _What had happened to Yoda? And who was he speaking to? And just a single Jedi Knight to defeat Vader and Palpatine? In what sugar coated galaxy was Yoda living in? _

**_"Patience!"_ **someone else said firmly. Master Kenobi? But he sounded weird, if it was in fact him.

**_"And sacrifice Han and Leia?"_ **the voice that Kanan had just heard from the Skywalker boy in the other portal said roughly. Well, that answered that question. It made sense that Obi-Wan would take young Skywalker to train with Yoda. EVERYONE trained with Master Yoda. But... they were usually younglings when they did.

**_"If you honour what they fight for? Yes,"_ **Yoda replied matter of factly.

_Okay. First. Ouch. Second. Princess Leia was in danger again? Third. Who was Han?_ Kanan hurried the last couple of steps to the portal, dying of curiosity now. The scene that greeted him was certainly not what he was expecting. The setting was some sort of dark swamp. Yoda looked even older and smaller than he remembered, if that was even possible. The Skywalker boy looked a little older than in the last portal and was dressed in an orange flight suit while standing beside the ladder of an X-Wing, which told him that he was working for the Rebellion. But what really got Kanan was the glowing blue light surrounding a somewhat transparent Obi-Wan Kenobi. Was Master Kenobi a Force Ghost? He'd thought the rumour that such things were possible was a myth.

_Apparently not._

_Wow._

_And ouch again. Master Kenobi is dead by this point... Sort of?_

And he was speaking.

_**"If you choose to face Vader, you will do it alone. I cannot interfere."** _

The young man looked beaten by this, but he merely said. **_"I understand."_ **Without looking at his mentors, Skywalker climbed up the ladder, calling, _**"Artoo, fire up the converters."**_

He settled into the cockpit and put on his helmet as Obi-Wan made one last plea. **_"Luke!"_ **_Yay! Finally learned young Skywalker's first name!_ **_"Don't give in to hate. That leads to the dark side."_**

_No kidding. I almost lost Ezra because of how much he hated himself._

**_"Strong is Vader,"_ **Yoda added. _Understatement_. **_"Mind what you have learned! Save you it can!"_**

**_"I will,"_ **Luke said, looking down at the ancient little Master. _"**And I'll return, I promise."**_ _Oh, kid. Don't do that. Never make promises you have no guarantee you can keep. It hurts too much._ Luke closed the transparisteel shell over the cockpit even as he was lifting off the ground. _Someone's in a hurry._ Kanan supposed if he was off to rescue Princess Leia, he'd be in a hurry too.

The image remained focused on Yoda even as Obi-Wan's image faded away.

**_"Told you I did. Reckless is he. Now, matters are worse,"_ **Yoda said, a note of despair in his old voice.

Kanan couldn't help but smile just a little, though. It had been a well known fact in the Temple that Master Kenobi was forever going on about how reckless his Padawan was and how it was going to make him old before his years. And that Ahsoka hadn't been much better. Now, it seemed that Anakin's son was very much cut from the same cloth.

_Poor Obi-Wan. Anakin's line had literally worried him into old age, just like he predicted. _

**_"That boy is our last hope,"_ **Kenobi's voice said from the dark. Kanan winced as that confirmed that he and Ezra was most certainly out of the picture at this point in time. _I really don't think I want to know what happens to us. Or maybe Ezra and I give up on the war to raise families like normal people. _

_Ha! __As if Hera would ever leave the war behind to raise a family. I guarantee our kid is going to be manning the guns on the Ghost before it can walk. _

_Which brings me back around to cringe worthy, unknown fate for Ezra and I. How depressing. _

Yoda looked up at the retreating lights of Luke's X-Wing, his wrinkled old face filling with certain knowledge. **_"No, there is another."_**

"Who?!" Kanan said out loud, not able to keep quiet as he watched.

At the same time, Obi-Wan's disembodied voice said, **_"You mean the sister? I suppose it is possible to train her as well, but she really doesn't have the temperament to be a Jedi. She has a rather spectacular temper that Solo is much too good at rising in her. She takes after her father way too much and doesn't have the training to control her temper like he did. Anakin would have loved her," _**he added wistfully. _**"Aside from his reckless streak, Luke is more like his mother; with a huge heart that wants to take care of everyone. He, at least could be trained at a late age. Sort of."**_

Yoda chuckled, turning around with aid of his cane and hobbling towards a hut built into the side of a big tree's roots. **_"Thinking of the apprentice, I am, actually. Strong enough in the Force she is, to take on Vader. Learnt much, she has."_**

**_"But she's..."_ **Obi-Wan started to say even as he reappeared and walked beside Yoda, looking much younger now; early twenties at the most, but still sporting his signature beard. _Interesting. Apparently Force Ghosts can change their appearance at will. I wonder why he keeps the old man persona for Luke? Comfort in the known?_

Yoda cut off whatever Master Kenobi had been about to say. **_"_****_Know_****_ this I do, my friend. If wait we must, then wait we shall." _**

**_"I suppose. If the Force wills it. But I'm not giving up on Luke just yet,"_ **Obi-Wan said stubbornly as Yoda paused at the entrance to his hut.

**_"Hmmmmm."_ **the tiny, wrinkled being said noncommittedly, looking up at the glowing image that towered over him. _"**A chance, there is yet for Luke,"**_ Yoda reluctantly admitted as he turned around and peered outwards into the depths of the swampy jungle. _**"But something else of interest there is occurring now. Feel it, can you not?"**_ Yoda said.

Obi-Wan turned around as well, making it feel to Kanan that both the Masters were staring right at him. It was creepy as hell. **_"I do,"_ **Obi-Wan said, stroking his beard thoughtfully.** _"We're being watched."_**

Kanan reared back a step, shivers running down his spine. _Did they know? How was that even possible?_

Yoda narrowed his eyes right at Kanan. **_"Come out, you might as well. Seen more then you should have already, so why not?"_**

Kanan sucked in a breath, now certain they were speaking about him.

_Holy frag in a supernova._

That's all he could think for a good ten seconds.

Then he kicked himself forward as if drawn and he touched the portal with his fingers. They disappeared. _Eeeep! _(Kanan was too freaked out to care that he'd just mentally squeaked like a little girl.)

He snatched his hand back and stared at it as tingles ran through it and up his arm.

Now he was torn. _Can I afford to spend some time with two of the Masters I looked up to the most as a youngling? If I go through the portal, would I be able to come back?_

_No._

_No._

The answer was no.

As much as he'd love to talk with Masters Yoda and Kenobi, he couldn't. He had another mission right now, and going through that portal was a risk he just wasn't willing to take.

Kanan stepped further away from the portal, shaking his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Master Yoda almost smiled, still looking as if right at him. **_"Then, if come out you won't, come in, we will."_**

"What?!"

Even as Kanan watched, Master Yoda settled into a cross-legged position right where he was and closed his eyes. _What is he doing? _A moment later a replica of Yoda was standing right in front of Kanan on the nearly invisible walkway inside the portal world. _Oh. My. Force. I didn't even know that was possible!_

The glowing form of Master Obi-Wan appeared beside him. _At least that's a little more believable. He is a Ghost after all._

They grinned at Kanan as he gawked and sputtered. "How... What... Kriff."

Yoda smacked him in the leg with his cane. "Young ones. Always underestimating the power of the Force."

Kanan resisted the urge to rub the sore spot on his leg that brought back a flood of memories from his training days as a youngling and pulled himself together. He quickly knelt in front of the Grand Master of the Jedi. "I'm sorry, Masters, for my unbecoming reaction. It's been a weird day."

Master Obi-Wan settled in a kneeling position as well so they were all at roughly the same head height. "Tell us about it," he said encouragingly.

"Are you sure?" Kanan asked. _My life story is rather... complicated. _

"Busy, do we look?" Yoda asked dryly.

Kanan glanced into the image of the portal again; the bleakness of the setting, the complete lack of anyone but Master Yoda in the picture, and shook his head. "No. I guess not."

Yoda snorted inelegantly.

Obi-Wan smiled encouragingly. "We really would like to hear how you came to be in The World Between Worlds. It is not supposed to be known to the living."

_What a surprise. Not._

"I can see how having access to this place would be of major concern," Kanan said. He raised a brow at Yoda. "But how do you know about it, then? And are you really projecting your image? Cause that's pretty awesome." Kanan was afraid he sounded like an awestruck youngling, but he was too amazed to care much.

Master Yoda smiled widely at Kanan, showing his pointy teeth, and leaned on his cane. "Too much time on my hands have I had. Amazing what you can learn when you have nothing to do but meditate and talk to Ghosts."

Kanan turned his eyes to Obi-Wan. "So you are a Force Ghost. I thought that was a myth."

"So did I, once." Obi-Wan said, his eyes looking far away for a moment. He returned his gaze to Kanan. "Now, explain your weird day, please."

Kanan settled a little more on his heels. "Just remember you asked for it when I'm still talking an hour from now. I think some of this might require more than a little back story."

"Know most of your story, we do," Yoda said quickly. "Following you, I have been, since I first talked to your padawan. Intriguing, your lives are."

_That... was kind of creepy. But... okay? And somehow comforting?_

"Errrmmm. All right?" Kanan gave Yoda a sideways look, receiving a wink in return. "I guess I'll start with the lothwolves. Do you know about them?"

"We do," Obi-Wan answered. "They're the Guardians of the Lothal Temple. A Temple that was purposefully erased from the Jedi Archives by Master Yoda after Order 66 so it wouldn't fall into the Emperor's hands."

Kanan winced. "Yeah. I'm afraid we kind of led the Inquisitors right to it. Sorry about that. The Emperor must know about it by now."

"Oh, he knows," Obi-Wan said dryly. "I believe, in your timeline, the Empire is currently tearing the Temple apart brick by brick in an attempt to find the secret to the portal land."

Kanan sucked in a breath in alarm and nearly jumped to his feet. "Then I have to stop them!"

Obi-Wan raised a reassuring hand. "Worry not. Your Padawan is working on it as we speak."

"He is? Of course he is." Kanan settled back on his heels with a smile. "Ezra is amazing isn't he?"

Yoda and Obi-Wan exchanged amused looks at the obvious pride Kanan felt in his apprentice, thinking of a time when Obi-Wan had said the exact same words about Anakin.

Kanan got himself back on track. "Anyway, I first saw the lothwolves this morning, but Ezra was aided by one last night to escape the Empire. By that point, my morning was already an emotional maelstrom." He paused for a moment, wondering if he should say the next part. "Do you two know about Hera and me?"

Obi-Wan nodded slightly, a tiny smile playing on his mouth. "Yes. And Ezra and his Mando girl. Go on."

Kanan breathed a soft sigh of relief at the lack of judgement in their eyes. He didn't know what he would have done if they had condemned him and Ezra for forming attachments. "I sensed that Hera was pregnant this morning," he said bravely, quickly, and then forged on before they could say anything. "And then I had to watch her take off in a rustbucket of a ship and fly into an Imperial blockade. I can tell you my heart was in my throat the whole time until I felt her shoot off into hyperspace."

"I do believe I can understand that sentiment," Obi-Wan said with a smile.

"You, Master Kenobi?" Kanan's tone was the epitome of incredulous.

Obi-Wan's smile turned into a smirk. "You're nowhere near the first Jedi to fall in love, Caleb."

Kanan had to remind himself not to gawk for two reasons. One, because THE Obi-Wan Kenobi had more or less just admitted to breaking the code. And two, because he'd used his original name, which no one had called Kanan by since he was fourteen. But, now that he thought about it, Caleb was the name Master Kenobi knew him by, so it made sense that was the name he would automatically use.

It felt strange though; Kanan hadn't thought of himself as Caleb for so long, it no longer felt like his name in any sense of the word.

"But what about the code?" Kanan couldn't help but ask.

Both Yoda and Obi-Wan shrugged. "Understand, now, I do that reworded it should have been." Yoda admitted. "Many problems, secrets caused."

"Now there's an understatement," Obi-Wan muttered.

Yoda smacked him in the knee with his cane. _Whoa. Did he feel that? Isn't he incorporeal? _

If the glare Obi-Wan shot Yoda was any indication, he definitely felt it. "I'm not a youngling anymore for you to discipline."

"Then act like it, you should," Yoda shot back.

Obi-Wan actually rolled his eyes at the Grand Master.

They then proceeded to glare at each other, unblinking, in an age old staring contest.

Kanan watched this exchange with fascinated eyes. _Who knew that the Masters could act like children too? Definitely not me. It actually makes them even more likable. _

But... Maybe he should get the ball rolling again on this conversation. Ezra and the others could probably use his help chasing the Empire off Lothal for good, and sitting here wasn't going to accomplish that.

He cleared his throat loudly, startling the two Masters across from him into shooting him guilty glances. "Anyway," he said pointedly. "It was the lothwolves that dropped me off in here after they helped us escape the Imperials that had found our camp. I guess the wolves have a purpose for it, but I'm not sure if I've discovered it yet. Although, so far I've learnt how to use Force Healing and healed my eyes, and learnt about Luke Skywalker, and talked with you two, so that's pretty significant."

"Impressive, actually," Yoda admitted. "Wondering, I had been, about your restored vision."

"I would say so, as well." Obi-Wan added. He stroked his copper beard thoughtfully as his eyes turned introspective for a couple of seconds. "But you're right; you haven't yet completed the true purpose that the Guardians wish you to achieve." _I haven't? What else is there?_ Kenobi rose to his feet and Kanan copied him. "We should leave you too it, then. Just try not to interfere TOO much with any of the timelines. Some things are just meant to be." He gave Kanan a very pointed look that Kanan wasn't quite sure how to interpret.

_Did Obi-Wan Kenobi just give me permission to interfere in a timeline? If I'm careful, that is? This day just keeps getting weirder and weirder._

"I guess I'll continue on my journey down the paths, then." Kanan said. "Thank you for coming to see me. I enjoyed this."

"So did we," Obi-Wan said with a smile. "And for the record, I approve of your facial adornment."

Kanan grinned as he stroked his beard that was trimmed similarly to Kenobi's.

Yoda tapped Kanan's foot with his cane to get his attention. Kanan gazed down at him with a questioning look.

"One thing more, before you go, oh bearded one," he said with amusement in his voice that changed to serious as he continue to speak. "Kneel, Caleb Dume."

Kanan knelt again, heart jumping as his mind came up with a heavy on the wishful thinking but possible reason for this. _Oh, please. Oh, please. _

And then his hopes came true.

Yoda touched his cane to Kanan's shoulder and then the other. "A Master of the Jedi arts, I sense you are now, Caleb. And proud am I of what you have achieved on your own. Know that Master Billaba is also very proud of you and wishes she could tell you herself." Kanan had to blink back tears at this as he met Yoda's wise old eyes with all the gratitude in his heart for the Grand Master to see. Yoda smiled softly in return. "Rise, Master Dume, and remember, never alone are you."

"Thank you," Kanan whispered as he rose to his feet, feeling overwhelmed once again. The other two Masters gave him one last smile before disappearing. Kanan's eyes shot back to the image in the portal and watched Master Yoda open his eyes and seem to smile right at him one last time. Then the old Master rose painfully to his feet and hobbled into his hut, closing the door behind him. The image in the portal faded away and went blank.

Kanan turned and walked on, eyes wide and feeling kind of numb.

_I'm a real Master now. Holy Kriff. I'm a real Master now._

It was nearly unbelievable.

_I can't wait to tell Hera and Ezra. They're going to have kittens. Kriff that. I'm having kittens. _

_Get a grip, _sarcastic Kanan said with an inner eyeroll.

He ignored himself.

There was a new bounce in his step as he strode on towards the next portal in the line and a smile growing on his bearded face.

_Master Dume. _

_I lIke the sound of that._

_Maybe I'll change my last name back._


	4. Unmasked

**Unmasked:**

**_"What about me? I believed in you. I stood by you!"_ **

Kanan was drawn from his mental celebration by a familiar but distraught voice he'd heard hundreds of times on his holocron.

Stopping, he peered downwards to a portal on a pathway below him and a little to the right. From this angle, he could just make out a corner of the memory inducing outline of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. (Now Palpatine's palace. _That sick bastard._) Curious as to what was going on in that portal, he jumped down.

As he landed, another achingly familiar voice responded to the famous young Jedi Knight.

**_"I know you believe in me, Anakin. And I'm grateful for that. But this isn't about you. I can't stay here any longer. Not now."_ **

Kanan blinked at the image of Anakin Skywalker and a very young looking Ahsoka Tano standing near the top of the Temple that he remembered all too well. It was funny how time changed perceptions. At that time in his life, Kanan used to think that Ahsoka looked very grown up. Now he knew what that really looked like. Even Skywalker looked like he was way too young for all of the burdens he'd been forced to shoulder. What was he at this point? Twenty? Twenty-one? That was way too young to have a Padawan already. Way too young to be a General that had to direct thousands of other humans to die for you. Way too young to lose what had essentially been his little sister. Ahsoka was only five years younger than Anakin. Even Kanan's Master had quietly agreed that the Council had lost their minds when they assigned a teenager to another teenager to teach and mentor. Depa didn't know if she'd have been able to make a difference in their decision if she hadn't been in a coma at the time, but she had said that she would have tried to change their minds. (She did have some influence with Windu, after all.)

There was anguish on Anakin's face and remorse on Ahsoka's as they gazed at each other with pain filled eyes and tense bodies. Ahsoka hugged herself as if she was holding in all the sorrow in the galaxy. And Anakin looked like he just wanted to pick her up and take her back with him into the Temple so she could never leave him.

Kanan's chest literally hurt as he watched the scene because he knew how this ended. He knew that Ahsoka left the order. He'd been there. The gossip in the halls after her accusation of murder, her trial, the besting of Bariss Offee by Skywalker and the confession, and finally her leaving had run rampant for days until another crisis with the war had turned everyone's attention to other things.

When Kanan had asked Ahsoka about that period of her life one night when they were reminiscing about old times a couple years ago, she'd immediately withdrawn into herself and only said, _"Those were the worst days of my life, and I wish I had stayed long enough to talk Anakin into leaving with me. Maybe things would have turned out so much better if I had." _

Kanan had been left wondering how that would have changed the outcome of the war for the better, considering Anakin was one of the best fighters the Jedi had, but he hadn't asked due to how miserable she'd looked and felt. This had been only a couple of weeks before they went to Malachor. Now he'd never know what she meant.

**_"The Jedi Order is your life. You can't just throw it away like this. Ahsoka, you are making a mistake."_ **

_That one is still debatable. _

Ahsoka seemed to shrink even further into herself as she gazed up at her Master with liquid sky blue eyes. **_"Maybe. But I have to sort this out on my own. Without the Council." _**She turned her back to Anakin, obviously not able to look at the heartbreak in his eyes anymore. Kanan didn't blame her**_. "And without you."_**

_Ouch. No one wanted to be told they weren't wanted like that, Ahsoka. You could have left out that last bit. No wonder she looked so miserable when she thought of that time._

Anakin turned his back to her as well, his broad shoulders slumping in defeat. Kanan didn't know who he wanted to hug more in that moment, but they both looked like they needed one. Having two teenagers under his care for the last four years had seriously turned him into a softy. Hera said it was good practice for when they had their own kids, which Kanan was looking forward to, but he still wasn't sure how it had happened that he'd become so paternal when he wasn't old enough for either of said teenagers to be his biological children. (Unless he'd been getting frisky at the grand old age of twelve.) _Actually, I was horny enough already back then. I used to think Ahsoka was the hottest thing in the Temple. Those skimpy outfits she wore sure were 'inspiring'. Master Fisto used to roll his big eyes at me in the most hilarious fashion when he caught me ogling her in class. At least I wasn't the only one. All the male younglings used to drool over her. Maybe that's why they sent her to war so young; to save her from drowning in our pool of saliva. And no one dared to slobber over her in any obvious fashion after Skywalker became her guardian; that would be like asking for an early death. Didn't stop the midnight fantasies, though. _

Kanan's brief mental chuckle at his pubescent self sputtered out as Anakin finally responded to Ahsoka's declaration.

**_"I understand. More than you realize, I understand wanting to walk away from the Order._** **"**

_Did he just say that? Seriously? Anakin Skywalker thought about walking away from everything he worked his ass off to achieve?_

Kanan couldn't imagine doing the same if he had been in Skywalker's boots. The young man had had everything; fame, power, respect from millions, an amazing Master and an equally amazing Padawan. There wasn't a youngling in the Temple who didn't want to be either Skywalker or Ahsoka.

But, if what the scene he caught the end of was anything to go by, both Ahsoka and Anakin were unhappy in the life they lived. Ignoring the war, which wouldn't last forever, they should have been perfectly content.

Unless… Anakin had formed an attachment? Possibly with the mother of Luke and the mysterious sister? That would explain a lot. _I probably would have been conflicted, too, if I'd met Hera while still a conventional Jedi. _

Master and Padawan faced away from each other for a few endless seconds of grief before Ahsoka turned her head slightly and said, **"****_I know_****."** Anakin startled in shock as she walked away, arms holding herself together and tears tracking down her cheeks. _What does she know? Did she know about whoever Luke's mother was? Or was it something else, like Anakin feeling betrayed by the Council because of their lack of belief in Ahsoka's innocence?_

Skywalker looked torn from the inside out as he turned and watched her walk away from him.

_Hug, hug, hug. Run back and hug him goodbye, _Kanan begged the image of Ahsoka. But she never did. Her silhouette simply disappeared down the steps of the Temple with the setting sun shining on her like a benevolent farewell. _Maybe she couldn't bear to do it. Maybe seeing his pain would have changed her mind and she didn't want to risk it._

When Anakin couldn't see her anymore, he turned and took two steps back towards the inside of the Temple before he collapsed to his knees and screamed silently, throwing something that he'd been holding in his hand away from him as hard as he could. He then buried his face in his hands as his shoulders visibly shook.

Kanan's heart nearly broke for him, it really did. _I'd be the same if I lost Ezra like that, no question. _He watched in sympathy as the young Knight spent about a minute pulling himself back together before he rose to his feet. He walked forwards again, steps dragging until he reached whatever he'd thrown. Stopping, he bent down and picked up a string of beads, holding them to his cheek for a moment before he carefully tucked them into a pouch on his belt.

As the portal went blank, Kanan realized that those had been Ahsoka's silka beads. _Force, that sucks. _

He didn't know for sure what he would have done in Anakin's place, assuming he had found Hera back then, but he thought he would have walked away with Ahsoka. Knowing what he did now about how the Jedi Order was manipulated by Palpatine, leaving would have been a much better option at that point. At least Anakin wouldn't have been executed by his clones.

On the other hand, he did know what he would have done in Ahsoka's place. Kanan had had that precise conversation with his Master after the gossip had started flying around that Ahsoka had left Skywalker and a sense of great unease had settled over the Temple. Everyone was starting to feel that things just weren't right anymore.

He remembered running up to his beautiful new Master and screeching to an undignified stop in front of her, sensing how pensive she was. "_Is it true, Master Depa? Did Ahsoka really leave the Order_?"

Her eyes had been sad and worried as she ran a gentle hand over Kanan's short hair. "_Yes, Caleb, she did_."

"_But why? Her whole life is here. She has the second best Master in the Temple_."

Depa had smiled slightly at the implied compliment that he thought her to be the best, hand settling on his shoulder and squeezing fondly before tucking her hands inside her robes again. "_I'm not truly sure, but the Force is a quagmire right now and nothing feels right anymore. Perhaps she has sensed that something is wrong and is making a wiser move than the rest of us_."

Kanan remembered pouting and crossing his arms over his chest. "_Well, I would never leave you, no matter what was wrong_."

Depa had smiled so sweetly then, but her doe brown eyes had turned even more sorrowful. "_Thank you, Caleb. But sometimes there are circumstances beyond our control. I just hope we never encounter them._"

Perhaps she had seen something in a vision, or perhaps it was just a feeling, but those words had become much too real only months later.

_She'd made me leave her._

_I understand why. But it still hurts just as much now as it did when I was fourteen._

_I miss her._

Sighing at the depressing fate of his Master, the Order in general, Ahsoka, and the man who had been the Order's greatest hope, Kanan walked on, going back in the rough direction of the area of where he'd been thrown over the edge by a sentient lothwolf.

He glanced in the next portal, hearing a lot of cheering and the sound of loud engines. Seeing that it was just a pod race taking place on a desert that he thought might have belonged to Tatooine, the now melancholic Jedi continued on, uninterested.

Kanan stopped at the next one as he saw a tall, blue skinned man with red eyes, dressed in a white Grand Admiral's uniform._ Whoa. Thrawn. Just as intimidating in colour as he is in Force Sight. _He looked even more cunning and emotionless than he had pictured him being, which was saying something, considering his Sight gave him a good mental picture of peoples' emotional auras.

At the moment, Thrawn's red eyes were following the pacing figure of Darth Vader and you could just see the wheels turning behind those calculating orbs. They were on a large Imperial ship of some sort (based on the grey walls), probably the Chimaera, and out the transparisteel windows a dark green planet was visible.

_** "I may be mistaken," **_Thrawn said softly,_ **"but I feel like we have been here before in a similar situation."**_

Darth Vader froze in his pacing and then strode up to the fearless Admiral, not stopping until he was well within the Admiral's personal space, looming over him, despite the Admiral's generous height. **"****_You are definitely mistaken and would do well to remember that_****."**

Thrawn nodded ever so slightly. **"****_I understand_****."**

Darth Vader whiled away, ebony cape hitting Thrawn's legs. **_"_****_Good_****_,"_** he snarled.

Kanan gawked at the image for a moment, processing. _Did Thrawn just imply that he knew who Vader was under the mask? Holy Force, that would be awesome if he did. I'm not exactly a fan of Thrawn, but I have to give him kudos for standing up to Darth Vader like that. The Admiral has some serious balls._ Thinking back on his encounters with the Sith Lord, Kanan shuddered at the phantom icicles that settled in his blood just from the memories. A colder person in the Force, he'd never met.

Kanan moved on and stopped again at a portal that showed Darth Vader standing in an Imperial looking hallway (monotonously grey again), holding his red lightsabre in a black gloved fist. Walking up to him was an old man in Jedi robes. He lit his blue lightsabre as Vader approached and Kanan lost his ability to breath. _Master Kenobi versus Vader! Oh. My. Fragging. Force. _Who would win between the two of them? Surely if anyone was strong enough to take on Vader, it was Kenobi? He took out Maul in only three moves, after all. But then again, the Jedi Master looked old and tired, nothing like his healthy and strong self from the war. And Vader was at least part cyborg, so he had an endurance advantage right there.

_Kriff. _

Kanan wasn't sure if he wanted to watch this, but like a speeder wreck, he couldn't look away.

**"****_I've been waiting for you, Obi-Wan. We meet again at last."_** Vader's calm and taunting mechanical voice sent chills down Kanan's spine yet again. **"****_The circle is now complete. When I left you, I was but a learner. Now I am the Master."_**

_Wait, what?! The only Padawan Master Kenobi taught (aside from Ahsoka in a roundabout way) was Anakin Skywalker. There was no way the Hero With No Fear had become this monster, had he?_

The very thought of it felt so WRONG and blasphemous.

_But the timing was very possible. Darth Vader did not appear until after Order 66. Everyone had been told that Skywalker had died, but what if he didn't? What if he turned to the Dark side instead?_

Kanan's heart hurt, just hurt, to think it.

_Maybe I'm mistaken. Maybe this is someone else that I don't know about. Kenobi did teach many younglings in the Temple, just like all the Knights and Masters took turns doing. _

_But what if I'm right? Oh Force. Had Ahsoka known? She would have told me, wouldn't she? Or maybe not. This is the kind of knowledge no one ever actually wants to know. I can see her keeping it to herself, shouldering the burden of such revolting knowledge alone. Assuming I'm making the correct assumption, that is. _

_I think I'll stick with option number two. It's much less nauseating. _

Meanwhile, Vader and Kenobi had begun dueling, red and blue lightsabres a blur as they danced up and down the hallways. There was no dramatic jumping or flipping like one would expect from two of the best swordsmen in the galaxy, but on the other hand, Kenobi looked really old (not that that ever stopped Master Yoda) and Vader was stuck in a clunky cyborg suit. _I guess their jumping days were well behind them._

While their sabres were locked, the combined energy sizzling in the air, Vader mocked Kenobi. **_"_****_Your powers are weak, old man_****_."_**

Kenobi didn't look worried and Kanan cheered him on. _Go Master Kenobi, go! _**"****_You can't win, Darth. If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine_****." **

_What did he mean by that? Is he more powerful as a Force Ghost than he was as a living being? That's pretty fantastic. Maybe there's something to look forward to after death. _

**"****_You should not have come back_****,"** Vader sneered in his chilling voice.

And then their red and blue lightsabres were flashing like coloured lightning again.

Master Kenobi suddenly stopped fighting when someone who wasn't in the image called, **"****_Ben_****?"** _Who's Ben? _The grey haired Jedi looked towards the person who sounded like it might be Luke and smiled in reassurance. _Oh. Obi-Wan is Ben. I guess that makes sense if you're hiding out. Obi-Wan is a rather well known and unique name._

Then Kenobi raised his lightsabre before his eyes, leaving himself defenseless.

_Oh no. Don't do that! _

Even expecting this ending, since he'd already seen Force Ghost Kenobi, Kanan's chest clenched in pain as Vader took advantage and sliced clean through him and Luke screamed, **"****_NO_****_!"_** the same way that Kanan's heart did.

_But wait... There was no body in the brown robe that fluttered to the floor. Master Kenobi had freaking well just disappeared. How was that possible? Is that the epitome of 'giving yourself to the Force?' I think my mind is a little bit blown. Someone come take my vital signs. Maybe I'm delirious from lack of food. _

Kanan's stomach rumbled in agreement.

Vader turned to look at the out-of-picture Luke and started stalking towards him, the sound of blaster fire in the background.

And then the portal reset to the beginning of the scene.

_Oh, come on! I want to know what happens next. I want to see where they were. Does Vader murder Luke too?_

Sighing loudly, Kanan walked on.

As he walked towards the next portal, which was a bit of a ways away and around a curve in the random path, Kanan increased his pace a smidge, eager to find a portal that might require a helping hand so he could complete whatever his mission was and hopefully the Force would see fit to guide him out of here. It had never even occurred to him to interfere in the Ahsoka/Anakin scene or the Vader/Kenobi one, so he was confident that those weren't the moments in time he was supposed to influence.

And then he saw it.

_I swear that wasn't there a moment ago._

There was a little green convor bird perched on top of the next portal, which happened to be triangular shaped unlike most of the others which had been circular. AHSOKA'S green convor bird to be more precise. Not that she had claimed ownership of the bird, but it most certainly followed her around often enough for one to think so.

Heart pounding in excitement now, Kanan bounded the last few steps. "Morai! What are you doing here?"

Morai tilted her head and chirped happily at him before looking downwards into the portal that had been quiet until that moment. (Unlike every other one he'd come across that had already had scenes playing.)

A dark picture appeared and it took him a moment to recognize what he was seeing, since he'd never actually seen the interior of the Sith Temple on Malachor. Been in it; yes. Seen; no.

But that dark pyramid shape with the flaming beam of energy shooting up the centre and flashes of blue lightning encompassing the room could only be one place.

_Bloody hell. That is the last place I ever wanted to visit again. _

Kanan's heart wasn't pounding in excitement anymore; it was thudding in his ears in dawning horror. _I don't want to watch Ahsoka die. Don't. Don't. Don't. Please don't make me, _he silently begged the Force. All he wanted to do was run away, but the presence of Morai compelled him to stay and tough it out.

And then there were voices that were quickly followed by images to match. Once the scene focused on the figures of Ahsoka and Darth Vader, his feet were all but planted into the path and couldn't have moved if a speeding starfighter had flown straight at him.

**"Revenge is not the Jedi way." **Vader taunted Ahsoka.

The resolute determination on her face indicated she wasn't fazed. **"I'm no Jedi." **

_Not like the old ones, anyway. You were better than them. Better than all of us. Smarter, More generous. More caring. More realistic. _As she lit her white lightsabres, Kanan felt like he'd just seen the most badass retort a Light side person had ever given to a Dark.

His newly healed eyes weren't budging off the scene either, gaping wide open much like his mouth did as he watched Ahsoka hold her own against the much bigger and meaner opponent. She flipped and slashed and spun and jumped and kicked and parried like the best duelists to ever live. She even Force Pushed Vader back, earning as surprised a glare as a man in a mask can give.

Despite how tall Ahsoka was now, she still looked tiny compared to the massive dark figure of Vader, much the same way she used to look when she stood beside Anakin so many years ago. But she was glorious in her fighting skill against the ruthless Sith Lord, her silver white lightsabres flashing as she countered every one of Vader's vicious attacks.

Their fight took them out of the chamber and onto the outer rim of the Temple and out of sight, but he could still hear the clashing of their sabres and the crackling of the energy weapon that was winding itself up for an epic explosion.

He also got to observe himself and Ezra struggle to get the Sith holocron out of the center beam of light which was almost as painful to watch as it was to do, since they were right in his face for it. Then they were limping away towards the background, hanging on to each other for dear life as they tried to make an escape with the Sith holocron.

_I wish we never went to Malachor. Not a single good thing came of that trip. We lost Ahsoka. Ezra almost fell to the Dark Side. Maul became obsessed with stealing my Padawan. I lost my real sight. And poor Rex has been miserable ever since, even if he's pretty good at hiding it. _

As the chamber started closing, Vader came back without Ahsoka and started stalking Ezra and past Kanan. _What had he done to her? Is she dead already? No. That's not right. I remember Ezra calling for her again after this. _

From the Phantom, Chopper beeped at the hobbling figures to, **"Hurry the frag up. Let's go! Let's go!"**

**"We're coming as fast as we can,"** young Ezra called back. **"Just be ready to... Gahh..."** Kanan had been waiting for that moment, curious to see what it looked like in real life. Vader was not letting that holocron go without a fight. They were playing tug of war with poor Ezra; Vader using the Force to pull the holocron that Ezra had a death grip on, and younger Kanan refusing to let go of his Padawan. _I would __still __hold on to him with everything I had, and I always will. Ezra is so much more than a Padawan to me. He's practically my son now. _**"No. Nononononono. Kanan! It's him!"** Ezra cried while we they were fighting over him.

**"I know. I got you!"** Kanan's old self cried back reassuringly, and current Kanan mouthed the words along with him.

Then Ahsoka came running into the picture like an angel of vengeance, lightsabres held behind her in her signature reverse grip, and eyes practically glowing with determination.

Vader forgot about Ezra and the holocron as he turned around, sensing the danger coming from behind him.

Ezra and the recently blinded Kanan disappeared from the picture as Ahsoka leapt into the air and came down on Vader before he could raise his lightsabre in defense, slashing his helmet with a silent scream of triumph.

Vader fell to the floor with a cry as she crumpled to the ground as well, shoulders heaving as she gasped for air. She looked hurt, probably from whatever Vader had done to her earlier.

**"Ahsoka!"** Ezra cried from beyond the picture. **"Come on, hurry!"**

For half a second, she looked like she was going to get up and go with Ezra. But then Vader called her name, a real voice behind the mechanical one and the gasping breaths heard from his respirator. **"Ahsoka."**

She froze.

Kanan stopped breathing. _Oh no. I did not just hear that. _

He said her name again. **"Ahsoka." **

_I did. I did just hear that. Why did I have to be right before? Anakin freaking Skywalker is the person under the Vader mask. _And suddenly, everything made sense; how miserable Ahsoka had seemed when talking about Anakin and how Yoda referred to an apprentice as being strong enough to take on Vader. Because she already did. And she was trained by him.

_But she didn't survive this. It's been nearly two years. She would have resurfaced by now if she had survived. We went back to Malachor twice after that and never found a sign of her. Even Rex had given up and assumed that she'd been vaporized by the explosion. _

_Wait. _

_What if THIS is my purpose for being here? What if I save Ahsoka from Vader?_

_Frag me. _

Kanan watched as Ahsoka slowly rose and faced her ex Master, agony on her face as she acknowledged a truth she'd either suspected or knew and wished she didn't. Her expression flickered between betrayal and hope before settling on the later.

_If, for some perverse and cruel reason that had been my Master and I in the same situation, I know I would be beyond torn right now._

**"Anakin,"** she breathed, her voice reverent and betraying the wishful thinking that her beloved Master was still in that cyborg suit somewhere. They faced each other, his red rimmed yellow eye visible under the ruined mask and meeting her wide blue ones as they stared at each other for endless moments, oblivious to the crackling of the energy beam as it revved up to blow, the increased lightning that shot everywhere, and the rumbling of the closing walls of the chamber. Eventually Ahsoka spoke, her voice filled with determination and regret. **"I won't leave you. Not this time."**

_Stars. I think I'd say the same thing. I think I could forgive Master Depa anything. And Ahsoka obviously thinks the same for her Master. _

Anakin / Vader stared at her in shock for an endless moment as Kanan imagined that Vader was recalling the scene on the top of the Jedi Temple that Kanan had just seen from when she'd walked away from him and the Order.

Then Vader stiffened in rage as he came to a decision, the betrayal of his Padawan too much for a Darksider to overcome even in her repentance. **"Then you will die!"** he growled in his double voice and ignited his malicious red lightsabre again.

Ezra called again from beyond the scene, obviously seeing that she wasn't coming. **"Ahsoka! No!"** She held out her hand, Force pushing Ezra back towards the shuttle Kanan's old self was already standing in at this point. He hadn't seen any of this, and he hadn't learnt yet how to see with the Force. He remembered hearing Ezra's part though, and wondering what the kriff was happening. _Now I know. Not sure if that's actually a good thing. _

Ezra's voice gave a final cry of, **"Nooooo!"** nearly distracting Ahsoka from the advance of Vader. She got her lightsabres up behind her back just in time to stop him from beheading her and the duel to the death was back on. You'd never know she was hurt from how she fought. She was clearly one of the best swordsmen ever to live, but against Vader, who had Dark side rage fuelling his already deadly skill, Kanan knew what was bound to happen.

_But I can stop it. Somehow. _

_Yeah, right. Like you can go up against Vader, _pessimistic Kanan pointed out. _Look how well that turned out the last time you tried. _

_Shut up. I'll come up with something. And I'm a lot better now than I was back then. _

Ten seconds later...

_Anytime now, Jarrus. Jump in there and save the girl. You know you already do if future Yoda and Obi-Wan speak of her in the present tense. _

_I'm going. I'm going. _

But he didn't. He still couldn't move his feet.

One minute of intense, breath stealing, avid watching of some of the best sword fighting he'd ever seen later, Kanan saw something he never would have predicted, but should have expected, knowing how loyal Ahsoka was to those she loved.

And she loved her Master still. Despite everything he'd done to the galaxy and his driving need to kill a last reminder of his past, she loved him.

She must, for why else would she drive her lightsabres into the floor when it became apparent that the Temple was going to blow within the next few seconds, leaving her defenseless, but weakening the already cracking floor further so Vader had a chance to live?

_Now I know how he survived._

Vader rushed forward to take advantage of the opening she'd left him, red lightsabre raised high for a killing strike on her bowed head. She was prepared to die. For him.

Morai chirped frantically, fluttering her wings at him. Kanan had all but forgotten the bird was watching too.

Suddenly, Kanan could move. With no preplanning or even knowing that it would work, he lunged forward and reached through the portal. Kanan grabbed her shoulder and hauled his friend back into the land of fragments of time with him.

As he pulled off the sudden manoeuvre, he just caught a glimpse of a very surprised, half masked Sith Lord before the floor collapsed under Vader's feet and he fell from sight.

Then Kanan passed out as a wave of extreme dizziness hit him, falling beside Ahsoka's equally unconscious body.

* * *

**A/N: I took liberties with the Thrawn: Alliances book, since I've never read it. Forgive me if I got it terribly wrong, but it's what I've got pictured in my head. I also have a mental picture of Vader vs Kenobi as being way more exciting and fast paced than was shown in the movie. I like to think if it was done again, it would be much more intensely choreographed with more advanced lightsabre play. The fan made video by 'Star Wars SC 38 Reimagined' ****does a pretty good job of what I have in mind. **


	5. Reminiscing

****A/N: Surprise! After months of neglecting many of my stories while I concentrated on only a few, the guilt of abandoning them has finally done me in. Which means that I'm going to put ALL 13 of my WIPs back in an equal rotation.****

****But what I will also do is make sure that I update whichever story has the most combined favs and kudos from the two sites I post on at the beginning of every week as a thank you to the people who are supporting that story.****

****I hope this works for everyone. I know some of you have been begging me to update stories that have been ignored for more than a year now, and I'm finally going to start doing so... 1000 + words at a time. :D****

* * *

****Reminiscing:****

__Lothal...__

Ezra smirked at his impeccable timing as he landed on the nose of the lead speeder bike with perfect balance, thanks to a little assist from the Force.

The trooper stared up at him in surprised shock through her helmet and automatically let go of the throttle. "What...?!" she exclaimed as the young Jedi cut her off with a kick to the chest that knocked her off the bike, sending her flying and tumbling over the ground. __Sorry,__ Ezra thought almost sincerely as he took over her seat and brought the bike to a stop just as the other trooper sped past, his helmeted face looking at Ezra with more surprised shock.

The trooper swung back around almost immediately, a determined tilt to his shoulders as he leaned over his bike and gunned it for Ezra, pulling a blaster.

The boy grinned, enjoying himself immensely at the game. Activating his green lightsabre, he jumped up onto the seat and deflected the shots off to the side. As soon as the trooper was alongside, Ezra held out a hand and Force pushed him off his bike. He grinned at the cut off scream as the man slammed into the ground and then went silent as Ezra jumped from the still bike to the moving one and brought it to a stop before it could crash into anything.

__And that's how it's done, __he thought triumphantly as he gracefully jumped to the ground.

Hooking his sabre back on his belt, he walked back to the female trooper, who was struggling to get up off the ground. Ezra waved a hand in front of her helmet and said, "Sleep," in a Force enhanced tone. She slumped back to the ground. He repeated the process with the male trooper, who was just beginning to groan as he woke up.

__You'd think the Force was helping us out or something, __Ezra thought as he turned and contemplated the first ever female scout trooper he'd ever seen. __Either she's really good, or someone started bitching about feminine rights and the Empire actually listened. __

__I don't even know which one to pick. __

__The good news is that this means that Sabine can more safely come with me. __

__Yay!__

He'd been planning on getting her into the construction site no matter what, because she was the linguist / artist who had the best chance of deciphering the clue the lothwolf had ever so helpfully left them, but this would definitely simplify things.

* * *

Sabine leapt to her feet to check on Ezra after he literally dove off the cliff, heart jumping up into her throat despite knowing he was probably fine. As she ran, she swiftly came to the conclusion that the last twenty-four - __Maybe? Not really sure anymore__. - hours had been an insane rollercoaster of emotions and she didn't like it at all.

As she watched him handily deal with the scout troopers, the Mandalorian girl thought back over everything that had led to this moment.

It had all started yesterday with the illicit thrill of stealing the Defender, coupled with the heart pounding suspense of fiddling with said ship's systems while Ezra flew chaotically through a combat situation and then crash landing them on the sole remaining wing that she'd managed to save. They'd laughed like children on a sugar high upon realizing they'd survived and then kissed like desperate fools for a few minutes before falling out of the pod when the hatch decided to open. (That had kind of hurt, but Ezra had mostly cushioned her fall with his hard body, so it wasn't quite as bad as it could have been.)

Then came the sheer frustration of hauling that shabla heavy hyperdrive for what felt like hours but was really more like half of one. They'd sat panting for a minute after hiding it in a small cave that Ezra just happened to find because a lothcat showed it to him. (__Him and animals... Yeesh__.) That led to them looking at each other and realizing they were ALONE.

Which, of course, led to yet another frantic make out session, which had turned into a very romantic slow and sensuous lovemaking session under the stars. (She'll be remembering that one for a VERY long time.)

From there, they'd apparently met the white lothwolf for the first time, but she didn't remember it because it had done some sort of Force voodoo thing on her and made her sleep, according to Ezra. (She now felt really bad for not really believing him at first.)

Then there was the worry that had plagued her while Ezra, Zeb, and Jai went to retrieve the hyperdrive even though the Imps were sure to be crawling all over the area. While they were gone, Hera and Sabine had fiddled with Ryder's old U-Wing, prepping it for its new part so Hera could fly the Defender's data recorder to the Rebellion.

Then there was anxiety fighting with confidence as she worked like a demon to install said hyperdrive in a record breaking fashion since Ezra and company had, of course, been spotted, and the Imps were bound to show up any minute. (__And wow, surprise, they did__.) Hera left, sparking more worry since she'd never had a chance to double check her work and Hera was flying a sketchy old U-Wing into a kriffing BLOCKADE of hundreds of Imperial ships.

__Speaking of Hera, I still don't know if she made it out okay. I'm assuming she did, since the last time I saw Kanan, he seemed relaxed enough. But… that could have been a front to stop the rest of us from worrying, the caring nerfherder. And… we WERE dealing with wild lothwolves, dark caves, and Imperial bombs, so any expression he was wearing could have been a front for ALL of it. __

__Note to self: When Ezra's done playing with the troopers, ask if he can sense whether Hera made it past the blockade.__

Then it was back to the thrill of the coming battle (which she disgustingly never got to fire more than a few shots in), followed by the absolute shock of seeing Ezra's giant white wolf for the first time that she could actually recall.

Trepidation predominated after that as she followed Ezra, who followed the massive and very dangerous looking wolves. (There had been similar large creatures on a bounty hunt she and Ketsu went on years ago, trained to be vicious killers and crawling all over the enemy compound. One had jumped on her before they even knew they were there. If Ketsu hadn't shot it almost immediately, Sabine would have more than a few small scars from its claws right now. After seeing how many salivating mooka hybrids were between them and their target, they'd decided to abandon that hunt, the credits just not worth the risk.)

__Hunh. I have to wonder now if the white wolf somehow knew I wasn't a fan and made me sleep so I wouldn't experience a long ride on its back in half-hidden terror. __(Ezra would probably have sensed her emotions, no matter how hard she tried to suppress them.)

__That certainly puts a different spin on things, doesn't it?__

After what the wolves had done to them so far, while still leaving all of them unhurt, if a bit disoriented, - __and one had definitely just TALKED! -__ Sabine was willing to give these particular mookas the benefit of the doubt for now and treat them more like friendly, but very dangerous, allies.

__I'm also assuming it was for my own good that they put me to sleep again as they transported us across the planet in some unknown fashion. Unless I find out I should be otherwise, I'm going to be grateful for the lack of memory on that one as well.__

The last part of this rotation's rollercoaster of emotions had come from waking up in Ezra's arms.

His rousing kiss had been perfectly wonderful, but realizing that she was not in the same vicinity or time zone she'd started in had been a rude and unwanted disruption to that unprecedented pleasure. The two other times they'd fallen asleep together so far in their new and crazy relationship that felt so completely right despite the odds, she'd kissed HIM awake, since he slept like the dead whenever he could get away with it. It was a different, but no less fun, way of waking him up than what she used to do to him when they'd only been friends; tickle him unmercifully or beat him with a pillow. (She had every intention of continuing the old traditions as well.)

A tiny thrill of remembered pleasure travelled through her at those delightfully fun memories.

That thrill grew a bit as she watched Ezra kick Imperial shebs without bothering to take names. As usual, when he was doing his Jedi thing, she found her midnight blue haired lothrat kriffing hot. (Not that she'd admitted it to herself until recently.)

When he was done, said lothrat looked way up at Sabine as she, Zeb, and Ryder peered over the edge at him. "You wanna come down here and put this outfit on?" he whisper-yelled, grinning and holding up the female's helmet as a sample of said outfit.

"Just give me a minute," she called back. "I want to take a recording of that tablet."

"Smart," he said with an appreciative nod. "Zeb," Sabine heard him call up as she walked back to the tablet. "Can you come down too and do something with our sleeping friends here?"

"Sure," Zeb all but bellowed back. "I'll climb down."

"I can catch you if you want to jump," Ezra teased with a hint of a dare in his voice.

Sabine smirked. __As if. __

Zeb agreed with her thought as he snorted loudly. "Not going to happen, Jedi brat," he snarled. "I'll stick to my claws, frag you very much." Sabine glanced back over her shoulder and watched him swing over the edge in one agile motion and disappear.

She grinned to herself as she finished taking a holo recording of the tablet for future reference. Zeb was so amusingly predictable; this wasn't the first time Ezra or Kanan had offered to give the Lasat a little assist with the Force. He always refused. __It would be hilarious if he actually accepted once and leapt. I just bet Ezra would be so shocked he'd almost forget to catch him.__

Sabine, on the other hand, was quite familiar with that particular manoeuvre and quite enjoyed it.

Which she proceeded to demonstrate by running past a startled Ryder and leaping out into the air, diving headfirst for Ezra, trusting him implicitly to catch her. The adrenaline rush was just as electrifying as always and she laughed with joy under her helmet.


	6. Alive!

**A/N: A.F.E. stands for After Formation of Empire. **

* * *

**Alive!:**

_World Between Worlds…_

Ahsoka's head was pounding in fierce agony and she felt like she was going to hurl even though she was fairly sure she was lying down and nothing was moving or exploding to give her motion sickness of the montrals.

_If only I could remember why._

Taking a deep and calming breath, she winced and then went for something a little less enthusiastic as the broken ribs in her side made themselves known in a rather painful way.

_Wait._

_Why were my ribs broken? Did I get hit by a Seppie shell again?_

_No. No. That can't be it. The war with the Separatists was over long ago._

Ahsoka forced her eyes open as she realized that she was gripping her lightsabres almost to the point of pain. Relaxing her hands a little, she sat up with a muffled groan, clipped them to her belt, and looked around.

And stopped breathing again.

_Where the kriffing hell am I?_

Everything was black, but filled with little lights like far off stars. And there were random, almost invisible, pathways all over the place with large, luminescent circles beside them.

A groan behind her made the Togruta warrior spin around instantly, rising to her knees and then her feet in the same graceful and swift motion, her hands moving to grab her sabres again if she needed to.

Ahsoka froze as she saw a hovering triangular… doorway?... with Morai perched on top, and in front of it, a fully bearded Kanan was rising to his feet as well, holding a hand to his head, much like she wished she was doing right now to stop the ringing in her montrals. Everything from the past couple hours came rushing back to her as her brain registered that a bearded Kanan was not the correct picture and supplied what he should look like.

He should have a just a goatee. And unless she was mistaken, he had also been wearing an old Temple Guard mask not even two minutes ago to cover the injury Maul had dealt his face and eyes.

This Kanan was scar free. Wearing different clothes. _And bearded._

_You thought that already._

_I know I did, _she told her cynical self. _But I'm in shock, so cut me some slack._

_If I must._

Images from the last hour flicked through her mind; falling through the crust on Malachor, fighting multiple Inquisitors, seeing Maul again for the first time in years, a masked Kanan fighting Maul and winning, Vader standing over a sprawled and beaten Ezra, hearing Anakin's voice again under the modified deep one of Vader, burying her sabres in the floor as the Sith Temple went to hell around her, and then… this, with a Kanan who wasn't the same.

_What in the seven hells is going on?_

"Kanan?" she asked, just to make sure it was even him. Because at this point, she wasn't even sure of that.

He focused on her and a slow smile crossed his face as he blinked at her as if he couldn't believe that he was standing there with her in the strange place. "Ahsoka!" he suddenly cried happily, and then he bounded the small distance between them and wrapped her in a tight hug, spinning her around in a joyous circle.

To say she was speechless would be putting it mildly, but she made a gallant effort at working up a smile for this stranger who wasn't a stranger. Kanan had always been her friend, but not that friendly, so it was a bit of a shock. (He tended to save his hugs for his actual family members.) She was also gritting her teeth against the pain of having her cracked ribs squished, but didn't say anything because she didn't want to offend him, but also kind of welcomed the affection since she was naturally cuddly with her friends, and honestly couldn't say anything with the way her breath had been squeezed out of her by his strong arms.

After a few spins, he eventually put her down, but kept his hands on her shoulders as if he couldn't quite make himself let go. He glanced up and down her body, apparently double checking to make sure she was still in one piece or something.

Ahsoka crossed her arms over her armoured chest. First, to make a point as she raised an incredulous eyebrow marking at him, and second, to hold her ribs together as unobtrusively as possible as she breathed through another wave of nausea.

"You're alive!" Kanan beamed at her, finally letting her go. "It worked!"

Her eyebrow marking went higher. "What worked?"

He gestured towards the triangular thing they were standing in front of. "The portal! I pulled you through! Vader was going to kill you and I grabbed you. And it worked!"

Ahsoka stared at the blank portal curiously. "I see." It took a few moments to sink in, but she really was starting to see.

_He saved me from Anakin. Pulled me through time to whenever this is, wherever this is. _

_I should be dead now. I was so sure I was going to be, either by Anakin's hand or in that epic explosion that was only seconds away. The Force found a way…_

_Did Anakin survive? Do I want him to have?_

_I don't… know. _

The sobering thought had her reaching forward and squeezing Kanan's forearm gratefully for a moment. "Thank you."

He smiled softly back. "You're welcome. But it wasn't just me. I had some help getting to this point."

Her white brow marking went up again. "That sounds like a story I want to hear."

He chuckled. "I think there's a lot you're going to want to hear."

She opened her mouth to agree, sensing that some time had passed - for him at least (even his signature was different, more settled and yet more powerful) – but she was interrupted by an insistent chirp from above, reminding her that they weren't alone. Ahsoka looked up and smiled. "Morai! What are you doing here?"

"She's one of the assistants," Kanan said with a grin as the bird chirped again in agreement and flew down, settling on the armoured wrist Ahsoka held out for her.

"Are you, my clever girl?" Ahsoka ignored the pain in her ribs to stroke Morai's head fondly. She was happy to see an old friend in this very confusing time. Her presence also helped Ahsoka come to terms with the fact that whatever had just happened was probably supposed to happen; as a manifestation of the Daughter, Morai was much wiser than she looked.

"Rex and Ezra and the others will be so happy to see you," Kanan said softly, his tone full of emotion, drawing her attention back to him.

"Why? How long has it been for them? I can tell just by how you look that some time has passed, but I was thinking a couple months, maybe?"

Kanan's face turned even more serious and her heart dropped. "Everyone thinks you're dead, Ahsoka. Malachor... That happened about a year and a half ago. It's the fifteenth day of 18 A.F.E."

The blood drained from her face in a rush, leaving her looking sickly pale and almost the same skin tone as Kanan. "No."

He nodded solemnly. "Yes."

_Oh, Force. My poor Rex. Alone again all this time, thinking me dead. It was 185, 16 A.F.E. when we landed on Malachor. So much time… gone. _

With sorrow and regret swamping her emotions, Ahsoka automatically fell back on her Jedi training to try and re-center herself. She took a deep breath and immediately regretted it, cutting off the motion midway through and her calming attempt failed before it began. _Osik, what's the point? I'm standing on an invisible pathway made up of the Force – I think - in the middle of nowhere and everywhere; does it really matter if I'm fragging calm?_ Her lips twitched as somewhat hysterical humour suddenly struck her. She said the first thing that popped into her mind as she looked at her saviour. "That explains the wannabee Kenobi beard then."

Kanan's hand rose reflexively to his jaw for a moment and his mouth quirked up on the side as he shrugged. "That happened after losing my sight. It's not so easy to shave when you can't see what you're doing."

The humour helped settle her, thankfully, by giving her something other than an unfortunate occurrence that she couldn't fix to focus on. (She'd make up the lost time with Rex somehow.)

"Don't know if it's as nice as Rex's," she said thoughtfully, reaching over and flicking his chin playfully. "But it suits you. I bet Hera thinks you look very handsome with it," she teased, "Since you still have it."

His cheeks flushed, interestingly. "Actually... she doesn't, not really. But she says she does so I don't feel bad. It will be nice to shave it off now for her."

"Why haven't you shaved it off sooner, if you can see now?" she asked curiously.

Kanan pulled a solid green mask decorated with jaig eyes out from where he'd had it tucked into the back of his belt and put it on his face for a moment, walking around her in a circle confidently. As he walked, he talked. "Actually, I literally just learnt how to heal myself with the Force not even an hour ago. I've been like this since Malachor."

He stopped again and put the mask back into his belt as Ahsoka gawked at him, stunned by two things. "You taught yourself how to use continuous Force Sight? And you learnt how to do extensive Force Healing?"

Kanan nodded, crossing his arms over his chest, trying not to look smug, but she could see it anyway, mostly in his Force signature. She supposed he was entitled to a little pride since both of those were massive accomplishments.

She, like most Jedi who fought in the Clone Wars, could use Force Sight for a few minutes if necessary due to blinding explosions, but none of them had ever tried to use it continuously as far as she knew. And as for the healing, not even the Temple Healers would have been able to save Kanan's eyes and vision after being struck across them with a lightsabre. They had relied more on bacta than any Force powers to do their jobs, using the Force only to quicken the healing process and lend strength to their patients. What Kanan had accomplished with both powers was practically unheard of as far as she knew.

"Does your Sight work the same way I know?" she asked, very curious.

"More or less," he said with a half nod. "I can sense the shape and depth of the objects and people around me, much like we were trained to do as younglings, but so much more focused than that. I can fight too, better actually, than I used to, since I'm constantly aware of everything around me anyway." His mouth quirked up. "I'm more than half inclined to keep the mask for fighting."

"I would," she said, impressed. Very impressed. And itching to spar with him to see just how much he'd improved. _I might even have to copy him to keep up, and wouldn't that be something? _"And the Force Healing? How did you learn that? No one knows how to do that anymore. Not for serious injuries."

Kanan gestured vaguely toward a portal or pathway far below them. "I heard a Master Force Healer, from what I assume is the past, teaching her Padawan in a portal and taught myself from her words."

"That's amazing," Ahsoka said with a smile that showed her pride in him. "I don't suppose you could do it again?"

"I probably could," he said slowly. "Why?"

She let the grimace she'd been holding back for a while now show. "I have at least two broken ribs from when Anakin threw me off the Temple. I landed on a set of steps and fell down a few levels before I could stop myself." Her breath caught minutely as she realized that she'd just called Vader Anakin, but Kanan hadn't seemed surprised. _He must have heard our conversation - if you could call it that - through the portal and already gotten over the shock._

Kanan winced in sympathy. "I thought you looked hurt. And I'm betting more than your ribs are sore right now."

She nodded reluctantly as his words brought other bruises and aches to her focus.

He stepped forward, hands out. "You want me to try now?"

Morai chirped and hopped up onto his shoulder, giving her stamp of approval. Ahsoka smiled slightly as she lowered her arm gratefully. "You know what Master Yoda would say."

Kanan grinned at her, suddenly looking years younger as his teal eyes twinkled in the ambient light of portals and pathways. "I know, I know. Do. Not try. Blah blah blah. I already told myself that earlier. But I have an even better idea."

She looked at him in askance.

"I'm going to teach you."

Ahsoka smiled. _He's gotten wiser in the last year. _"All right. I like that idea."

"Good," he said in an approving teacher voice that she knew well. With a questioning look, and waiting for her to nod permission, he placed a gentle hand over her own where she'd been holding her ribs together whenever not petting Morai. "Close your eyes and gather the Force to you," he said softly. "There's an abundance of it here, which I'm sure makes this easier than it would be, say, in space or on a dying planet like Mandalore.

Ahsoka nodded, doing as he said. The Force came easily, as if eager to help.

"Now listen with your HEART," he whispered. "Use it to guide the Force to where the injuries are and then place the Force in each and every cell that is hurt. You have to see them in your mind for it to work. I imagine, also, with broken bones, you would pull them together with the Force and then fuse them, heal them. Can you picture it in your mind?"

"Yes," she said back quietly, pictures of her insides forming in her mind. The cracked ribs were glaringly obvious compared to their healthy companions.

"Together, then," he breathed, and she felt him push even more Force energy into her as they both targeted her ribs. Her smile only flickered marginally in surprise when she felt Morai's distinctive energy join in as well.

With the Force filling her to the very brink and swirling around her encouragingly, they healed and sealed the cracks, and then did a quick pass over the rest of her body, dispersing bruises and leaving her feeling better than new. Ahsoka felt like she'd just had a really good night's sleep and was a good ten years younger, energy still coursing through her and everything tingling pleasantly from the tips of her montrals, all the way down to her toes.

She opened her eyes and stared at Kanan in wonder. "That's amazing! It's so simple once you know how. How have the Jedi forgotten how to do this?"

He shrugged with a 'who knows?' look on his face. "Idiocy? The Jedi were very good at that."

"So true," Ahsoka sighed. "It's a wonder we didn't fall sooner."

Kanan hmmmphed softly in agreement.

She gazed around her again, marveling at what should be impossible. "So where are we exactly? And how did you get here?"

"That... Is a long story," he said, his mouth quirking up as he rolled his eyes.

"Are you in a hurry?"

He snorted. "Yes. And no. There is no hurry in a place that defies time… as long as one can ignore their bodily needs, anyway," he added wryly. Kanan chuckled lightly and she joined him, blue eyes crinkling at the corners.

"There is that. But I'm good for a few more hours if you are."

His stomach chose that moment to rumble and he huffed as he looked down at his abs in mock betrayal. "Traitor," he muttered. "You weren't supposed to give away the fact that I skipped breakfast in favour of waking up Hera to properly celebrate the new life force I'd just felt within her."

She gawked and then gave a happy, "Eeep!" hugging her younger brother-in-arms quickly. "Congratulations! You're so lucky to be blessed with a youngling! Hybrids are so rare."

"I know," he grinned, looking every inch the proud male.

"Now you HAVE to tell me everything that I've missed," Ahsoka said, practically bouncing on her toes with eager curiosity.

"Very well," he nodded, "Story time it is. But you have to settle down first," he teased, putting a hand on her shoulder and sending her a quick wave of calm, just like a Master with a bouncing youngling.

She pushed his hand away with a laugh. "Nerfherder."

"So every female in my life likes to tell me," he said with a roll of the eyes. He sat down on the path with his legs dangling over the edge and patted the invisible path beside him.

She sat.

He talked.

It took a long time.

By the time he was finished, Ahsoka's jaw may have travelled as low as her lap on at least a dozen occasions and was still more or less there.

And she didn't say a word until the end, but then she kind of exploded.

"Lothwolves? Portal using, sentient, TALKING, wolves left you here? And Maul's actually, one hundred percent dead? And you're a Master now? And Kallus changed sides? And Anakin has children that he may or may not know about? And you almost got captured by Thrawn but the Bendu deciding to kill you all saved you? And Sabine had the Darksabre? And Senator Mothma publicly defected? And Ezra came within a millimetre of falling to the Dark for good? And you saw a projection of Yoda and a Force Ghost of Master Kenobi?!" (Her voice rose to a higher pitched squeak with each addition to her list.)

Kanan nodded, sniggering. "Believe it or not."

Ahsoka took a deep breath, shaking her head. "Since there aren't any other options, I guess I believe it," she said on a half laugh.

Kanan stood back up, patting Morai, who'd settled on his forearm long ago and had closed her eyes in bliss as he stroked her feathers throughout his long history recap. "Right. Now that story time's over, I'd like to find my way out of here."

She stood as well and held her arm out for her (from a certain point of view) bird. Morai flew over and settled on her vambrace. Ahsoka raised her arm up (so grateful to be able to do so without protesting ribs) and snuggled her cheek against the convor's soft feathers. Peeking at Kanan as she looked over Morai, she hid her smirk in the green feathers and said completely deadpan, "I'm all for that. This place doesn't look like it comes with a galley or a refresher."

Kanan threw his head back and guffawed.


	7. Trust

**A/N: I know this is just a short little piece of fluff that contributes absolutely no forward movement to the plot, but what comes next in this plotline is too long a section to not be it's own chapter, sooooo, here you go; some pointless fun. :D**

* * *

**Trust:**

_Lothal…_

Ezra's eyes widened and his heart jumped up into his throat as Sabine leapt off the cliff, pulling his gaze from where he'd been watching Zeb's progress down the fifty metre tall rock face. _Kriff, she did it again! _(She couldn't seem to resist testing his reflexes by doing things like this without any warning.)

He threw a hand up and latched onto her Force signature, slowing her momentum until she was floating horizontally right in front of him. There eyes seemed to meet through the dark visor of her helmet for a moment and then he loosened his hold on her at the same time as she twisted her body so that her feet were lowermost.

He let go.

She landed on the ground like an agile tooka and laughed. "Shab, that's fun."

Now that his heart had returned to its proper location in his chest, Ezra was able to grin back like he totally agreed with her. "I'm glad you think so."

She pulled her helmet off and now he could see how animated her face was. How her eyes sparkled with happiness in the dark. "_Stars, you're so kriffing beautiful," _he thought to her, clenching his hand in a fist to stop it from reaching out to caress the delicate lines of her face, only just remembering that their relationship was supposed to be a secret still.

Sabine sucked in a breath and her eyes widened and then softened into the crinkle of a sweet smile. _"Thanks, Ez'ika. You're pretty kriffing beautiful too."_

He didn't even care that she'd thought beautiful instead of something more manly like handsome because he could feel how much she meant it. And that meant the entire galaxy to him while stoking his ego just a little more than it really needed.

He puffed up just a bit, unconsciously preening.

They stared at each other for an endless moment, her joy morphing into something a little different. Something a little more heated. Something that brought an instant response in him that said, 'Kriff it, you should kiss her anyway.'

Something they couldn't act on right now.

Which Zeb demonstrated by jumping down the last couple metres and landing beside them with a grumbled, "Crazy Mando."

Ezra didn't know if he wanted to kill the Lasat or thank him for the interruption.

* * *

Sabine wasn't sure how it happened, but somehow her adrenaline rush suddenly turned into a wave of lust. All she knew was that her boyfriend was looking mighty fine in the vague light cast by the moon and she was fighting with the sudden urge to drop her helmet and push him to the ground for a thorough mussing.

Fortunately, Zeb gave her something else to focus on.

She turned her head and smirked at the purple striped beast of a being. "That's the only kind there is, Zeb. Us Mandos take pride in being as crazy as possible."

"I've noticed," Zeb said with a roll of his neon green eyes that actually glowed faintly in the dark. He looked around at the passed out scout troopers. "So what do you want me to do with them exactly?"

"Take them up the cliff?" Ezra supplied helpfully.

"I can do that," Zeb said with a smirk.

"Just let us steal their armour first," Sabine said before Zeb could scoop up the nearby female trooper.

"Ah, right," he paused in midstep and laughed, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment at getting ahead of the game.

Sabine pushed her helmet into Zeb's thick arms playfully. "Here. You can hold this instead."

"Oh yeah, way to make me feel useful," he complained as Sabine walked over to the female trooper and Ezra made for the male.

"But you make such a good bucketsitter," Ezra called back over his shoulder.

Zeb growled.

Sabine laughed softly as she dragged the female into a little nook of the cliff wall not too terribly far away, giving her a small semblance of privacy, and then started stripping, cursing the cold northern air. When she was down to just her bodysuit, she started on her unconscious victim. "Sorry for this," she said softly.

A few minutes later, the other woman was down to her underwear and Sabine was enclosed in her poorly fitting and very uncomfortable bodysuit and armour. Noticing that the woman was starting to shiver, she aimed for one of the bikes and dug through the compartments until she found the survival kit and pulled out the thin silver blanket. Sabine went back to the woman who was now covered in goosebumps too and rolled her into the blanket. "Kay, Zeb," she called. "This one's ready for relocation."

Zeb appeared around the little corner about half a minute later and shouldered her easily. Sabine handed him her folded up bodysuit with her armour and blasters held snugly inside via the tied together sleeves. "Be careful with that," the Mando girl said with a warning glare.

"Yes, boss," he replied with a mischievous grin right before he threw the bundle up onto the cliff high above them with a mighty heave.

"Zeb! What the frag!" she screeched. And then Sabine gasped as she realized he wasn't holding her helmet either. "Tell me you didn't do that to my bucket too?!"

The furry nerfherder snickered as he started to climb. "What did you expect me to do, make a separate trip just for clothes?"

"Yes!" Sabine hissed at his backside.

"Not even if you paid me," he called back down in a laughing tone as he made quick progress up the rock wall thanks to his very useful claws.

Sabine snarled some more curses at him in Mando'a but went to find Ezra, knowing there was probably someone starting to wonder where the scout troopers had gone. She was happy to see that he'd also rolled his victim into a blanket. "He gave my stuff the same treatment," he said in a sympathetic tone, after seeing the scowl on her face and probably having overhead her very unladylike screeching.

"Don't worry," Ryder called down, sticking his head over the edge. "I got it, and nothing looks broken. I even caught your helmet"

"Thanks!" Ezra and Sabine called together as the old Governor's head disappeared and Zeb started his way back down again.

Ezra looked down at his new outfit with a rueful snort. "I swear I just changed OUT of this getup not even an hour ago. At least, that's what it feels like. I wish the Force would have given me a flash of a vision or something so I would have just left my own version on." He shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably and then added, "It fits better."

She giggled softly at his pained expression, knowing exactly how he felt. Sabine grabbed the helmet he'd hung on the handlebar of a bike and plunked it on his head for him. "How about we get this show on the road before someone notices that these two didn't check in on time? The sooner we get Kanan out of there, the sooner we can put our own clothes back on."

Ezra pushed the button to flip the front of the helmet up and gave her a cheeky grin. "That is a very good idea, oh Brilliant One." He gestured to the bike gallantly. "Would you like to lead the way?"

She shoved him playfully out of her way before pushing the front of her stolen helmet down and hopping onto the bike. "Don't mind if I do, oh Brawny One." Sabine took off, leaving him to catch up as she snickered at dredging up an old joke from years ago that still resurfaced every once in a while from when he hardly had a muscle to his name. Just like now, he'd always just went with it, willing to take whatever teasing abuse she threw at him with a grin and a shrug.

_Funny, the title almost fits now, _she thought with a pleased smile. _My boy has some seriously nice muscles going on from all his Jedi training. Not as muscle-bound as a Mando male yet, and probably never will be, but nothing to scoff at either. _

_Add that to his sweet nature, kickass fighting skills, and the way he practically worships the ground I walk on, and I have to consider myself one very lucky girl indeed. _

_Very lucky, _she reiterated when Ezra suddenly zipped past her, his voice again in her head and saying cheekily, _"First one there has to make dinner for the other on our next date!"_

Since Sabine wasn't all that fond of cooking (and he knew it), she let the cocky lothrat disguised as a Jedi boy disguised as an Imperial scout trooper win.

But only by a fraction so that he didn't think she wasn't at least sort of trying.


End file.
